Transport Principal Secretary Paul Maringa was forced to explain to Parliament how Ksh 8.19 billion had been allocated to completed projects after MPs termed the allocation as outrageous.
A report by the Standard on Tuesday, June 9, detailed that Parliament questioned the National Treasury's decision to fund over 64 projects which are already in use.
The Parliamentary Budget Office highlighted the allocation after analysing budget estimates for the 2020/21 financial year, which has proposals to fund the projects. Road works cover a huge chunk of the 64 projects.
"Payment obligations relating to a project only cases once the contract and its subsidiary costs are fully made. Physical completion of a project does not necessarily mean that the financial obligations have been fully met.
"The resources available do not allow for optimum allocation of the required amount owing to the number of projects that are supposed to benefit from the available budgetary ceilings. Owing to the constrained financial resources, the contract periods are not normally in synchronisation with the allocatable budgetary provisions," Maringa defended.
The CS also added that the amount allocated was Ksh 7.1 billion as opposed to Ksh 8.19 billion reported by Parliament.
The National Assembly Committee on Budget also raised concerns over the allocation. It recommended that the government should adopt a clear procedure to report pending financial obligations.
It should also differentiate the pending financial obligations from funds stipulated for project sustainability.
Despite the issue being addressed, the 2020/21 budget proposal highlights key challenges the government is facing, in terms of revenue collection from 2019/20 financial year.
"We are clearly conscious of our limited fiscal space occasioned by revenue shortfalls and rising expenditure pressures.
"The 2020 Budget Policy Statement (BPS) is prepared against the background of a weak global economy. The global economy is projected to grow marginally at 3.4 per cent in 2020 from the estimated 3.0 per cent in 2019," Treasury CS Ukur Yattani warned.
