The National Assembly Budget Committee Chairperson, Ndindi Nyoro, has criticized the National Treasury for failing to meet its tax responsibilities.
Speaking during the Budget Appropriations hearing, Nyoro said that the Treasury had focused on recurrent expenditure over development priorities.
Moreover, he noted that the John Mbadi-led ministry fell short of its revenue projections and had set unclear budget targets.
“We keep making the same mistake all the time, for the last 10 years, our ordinary revenue has only been achieved at 67 per cent.
“If you keep having a downfall between our targets and the actual revenue, then why do we have to target higher?” he questioned.
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Ndindi Nyoro on Allocations
At the same time, Nyoro highlighted the misses in the Treasury’s allocation of funds.
He revealed that a KSh 1.273 trillion from the Consolidated Fund Service had been earmarked for expenditure, with KSh 1.009 trillion going towards servicing interest on loans and financial obligations.
This, he noted, leaves little room for investments in critical development projects.
“Money on consolidated fund service amounting to 1.273 trillion Kenyan shillings, just imagine.
“And out of that figure, 1.009 trillion Kenyan shillings, is money we will be spending in the payments of interest rates for our financial obligations,” he added.
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Pensions and Deductions
Also, Nyoro addressed the concern of pensions for civil servants, saying that the system was a “revolving door” for government finances.
Further, he explained that contrary to common belief, the pension funds deducted from employees’ salaries are not stored or invested in a granary-like fund for future payouts.
“I used to think that the money we call pension because they are cut from our salaries, they are deducted.
“I used to think that there is a granary where that money is stored so that when you retire as a civil servant, the granary is opened and money is drawn from there.
“Only to realize that there is no such granary. That government is a revolving door. money in, money out. That even the pension for former civil servants are from the taxes we are collecting now, not the money we deducted then,” said Nyoro.
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