President William Ruto has assented the Supplementary Appropriation (No.2) Bill, following the withdrawal of the Finance Bill 2024.
The Bill, now Act, was sponsored by the Chairperson of the national Assembly Budget and Appropriations Committee Ndindi Nyoro.
On Monday, August 5, the president signed it into law after it was considered and passed with amendments by the National Assembly on July 31, 2024.
The Act implements reductions in both recurrent and development expenditures for the three arms of government, as well as for constitutional commissions and independent offices.
“The Supplementary Appropriation Bill makes available more resources for agriculture, education and healthcare.
“It further anchors our Universal Health Coverage (UHC) through the funding of medical internship, UHC workers on contract and Community Health Promoters,” Ruto said after the assent.
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Reductions Made in Supplementary Appropriation Act
According to Ruto, the Act was necessitated by the need to realign planned expenditures to the revised fiscal framework.
The total reduction for the National Government is Ksh145.7 billion including Ksh40 billion for the recurrent expenditure and Ksh105 billion for the development expenditure.
Additionally, the Executive has suffered a Ksh139.81 billion reduction, drawn from various Ministries. The new law also contains a reduction of Ksh3.7 billion for Parliament and Ksh2.1 billion for the Judiciary.
Also, State House and the Office of the Deputy President have suffered a Ksh6.0 billion deduction, Ksh7.0 billion reduction for the National Treasury and Ksh6.9 billion reductions to various development projects under medical service.
The Road projects and transport sector has suffered a Ksh17.3 billion reduction.
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Education, Agriculture, Among Sectors Receiving Allocation
On the other hand, the Act allocates funds to other sectors including Agriculture, which has received Ksh20 billion.
Out of the amount, fertilizer subsidies program has received Ksh7.5 billion, Coffee Cherry Fund has received Ksh3 billion, debt waiver for coffee farmers has received Ksh2 billion and the purchase milk coolers has been allocated Ksh2 billion.
Also, Milk price stabilization has been allocated Ksh1.5 billion while Ksh0.7 billion has been set aside to support sugar farmers.
In the education sector, JSS intern teachers’ confirmation has been allocated Ksh18.7 billion, the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) has been allocated Ksh31.3 billion and the University Funding Board scholarships has received Ksh17 billion.
Furthermore, the Supplementary Appropriation Act allocates Ksh3.7 billion for the medical internship program, Ksh4 billion for primary healthcare fund, and Ksh4.g billion for community Health Volunteers allowances/equipment.
Remuneration enhancement for security officers has been allocated Ksh3.5 billion in line with the recommendations of the National Taskforce on Police Reforms report.
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