SENATORS’ COUNTIES BUDGET TURNED DOWN

MPs have rejected a proposal by senators to increase money allocated to counties, setting the stage for a supremacy battle between the Senate and the National Assembly.

The National Assembly Budget Appropriation Committee put aside the proposed Sh291 billion saying the senators had not provided the source of the extra Sh7.7 billion in the Division of Revenue Bill, 2015 when it was passed by the House last week.

MPs noted that the increase went against the Budget Policy Statement and would be difficult to implement.

The senators increased the allocation from Sh283.7 billion to Sh291.4 billion saying their colleagues in the National Assembly had not adequately provided for Level 5 hospitals and a vote for emergencies in the devolved units.

“The committee recommends that this House does not concur with the proposed amendments by the Senate and therefore rejects deletion of schedule as well as the proposed inclusion of a new schedule,” said the committee in the report.

MEDIATION COMMITTEE

The report will now be debated by members and if adopted, it means a mediation committee will be established to find a common position between the two Houses.

The committee chaired by Gachoga MP Mutava Musyimi in a report tabled in the House Thurday said the Senate had adjusted the figures and failed to say where the money would be sourced from.

“The amendments failed to state which programmes the national government will reduce in order to fund the amendments,” said the report.

In rejecting the proposal, the committee that proposed the initial figure passed by the House two weeks ago said the raise may stretch the government’s financial capability and may force it to seek for extra funding elsewhere.

“The proposed increments may result to widening financing gap and this may occasion further debt by either borrowing externally or in the domestic market,” said the committee.
National Assembly originated the Bill that determines the money to be shared between the national government and the counties.