Kenyans living abroad and in need of repatriation may soon face challenges as the State Department of Diaspora Affairs realigns following the recent austerity measures announced by President William Ruto.
During an appearance before the Committee of Defence, Intelligence & Foreign Relations Committee in Parliament, Diaspora Affairs Principal Secretary Roselyn Njogu expressed her concerns that the budget cuts will make it harder for the ministry to offer some services.
Njogu, while addressing the lawmakers called for their support towards ensuring that the budget is reinstated.
For instance, the principal secretary pointed out that the budget cuts will make it very hard to offer mobile consular services.
“Roseline Njogu, PS State Department for Diaspora Affairs sought support from the Defence Committee to reinstate funding for critical programmes including the repatriation of distressed Kenyans, Diaspora welfare rights and mobile consular services,” the National Assembly communicated in a statement.
Still on budget cuts, the State Department of Foreign Affairs also revealed that its development budget had also been cut by 100 per cent.
According to Foreign Affairs PS Korir Singoei who also appeared before the Committee, the department’s activities such as the refurbishment of foreign missions would have to be halted.
Another project set to be affected by the cuts is the construction of the ministry’s headquarters.
“According to documents reviewed by MPs, the Foreign Affairs State Department's development budget has been cut by 100% affecting the implementation of key ongoing projects including the refurbishment of Mission properties abroad and construction of the Ministry Headquarters,” the National Assembly's statement communicated.
The overall budget reduction within the newly submitted budget estimates is Ksh156 billion, with development expenditure facing a substantial cut of Ksh122 billion and recurrent expenditure being slashed by Ksh34 billion.
Other affected sectors include the Executive Office of the President, which will see its budget slashed from Ksh5.4 billion to Ksh3.6 billion, marking a significant reduction of Ksh1.8 billion.
Similarly, the Office of the Deputy President will face a cut of Ksh2.1 billion, bringing its new allocation down to Ksh2.6 billion from the initial Ksh4.9 billion.
