National Treasury acting Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani appeared before the Budget and Appropriations Committee chaired by Kikuyu MP, Kimani Ichung'wa, on Wednesday, November 20.
Yatani asked the Parliament committee to approve an additional Ksh1 billion to facilitate the completion of the Huduma Namba project, which had already used up Ksh 7.7 billion according to a report by The Standard.
The Treasury informed the committee that the funds would be used in the publication of Huduma Namba identification cards.
His proposal, however, attracted criticism from members of the committee who viewed it as a wastage of national funds by the ministry in what they termed as an unnecessary spending spree.
"It is baffling how the government is seeking additional funds when it has not revealed the outcome of the exercise that was conducted between April 2 and May 5," committee chair Kimani Ichung'wa argued.
When Kenyans.co.ke Ichung'wa stated that the proposal on budget allocations was ongoing and declined to comment further.
The funds requested were part of the proposed Ksh80.1 billion increase in the overall national spending in the supplementary budget estimates, currently before the committee.
However, Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria, a member of the committee, came out strongly to allege that there was inconsistency in budgeting for the Big Four agenda.
Kuria stated that President Uhuru Kenyatta's pet projects were under the oversight of the Presidential Delivery Unit (PDU), under the Ministry of Interior and National Coordination headed by Fred Matiang'i.
He demanded that the delivery unit appears before the committee to defend the projects instead of CS Yatani.
In his defence, Yatani stated that the supplementary budget estimates and expenditures would be catered for by an increase in local appropriation in Aid (AiA) by Kh1.7 billion and in projects funded by development partners totaling Kh26.2 billion.
The Treasury CS stated that the government had collected surpluses from State corporations amounting to Ksh78.7 billion.
“This also covers part of the shortfall arising from the downward revision in revenues,” He stated.
