Premium
Shocking extravagance and unaccountable billions
A ceremonial briefcase ahead of the presentation of the budget statement.
A bird’s eye glance at the how government spent its money in the 2023/24 government financial year conveys some worrying, indeed horrific, messages.
Unsurprisingly ‘domestic and foreign travel’ ate over Sh14 billion and ‘hospitality’ another Sh3.7 billion. But the most horrifying figure of all is the Sh32 billion swallowed up by ‘other operating expenses’.
If we were to try and break down that figure, I fear we would get a shock of our lives and undoubtedly we would land up with many more questions than answers.
There are two things that stand out. One is the sheer enormity of the figure and another is what on earth did it cover.
Regarding the latter, is it because the system cannot get any or adequate information on what the money went to or is it to hide money that went on an array of questionable, dubious, expenses which are being hidden from public scrutiny for one reason or another?
I suspect the answer is both.
There is inadequate information available to actually pin down the expenses which could be sloppy or deliberate and secondly it could cover a multiplicity of expenses and payouts which would show the deep state is involved in an array of things it should not be and are potentially disturbing.
Let me be clear. I am not levelling accusations. I am literally pointing out that there is an enormous sum of the public’s money that literally is unaccounted for. Remember the government of the day is there on behalf of the people and in theory should be accountable for all its actions and the money it spends.
Government money is not some private largesse. It is money that is extracted from its people and borrowed from a number of bodies in theory to be spent on its people.
International Monetary Fund
If the relevant bodies such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and others such as the bilateral country donors and agencies are not insisting on answers then they are doing a shameful disservice to Kenya.
To put it another way they are indirectly funding or subsidising this lack of accountability and deceit.
This reminds me of Senator Onyonka’s recent interview where this articulate legislator and Finance Committee member made some stunning revelations.
Out of a budget of sh3.4 trillion, approximately half goes on corruption.
He asks about the whereabouts of tarmac roads to which money was allocated. Of course it is largely rhetorical question as precious few tarmac roads have been built recently.
He gives the example of the Governor of Bungoma’s expenditure of Sh25 million on flowers for Madaraka Day when there are hospital patients lying on bare floors in its county hospitals waiting for treatment.
He asks about the Machakos County’s payment of legal fees totalling Sh962 million to two particular legal firms.
I would love to see the breakdown of that fee note and for what just short of Sh1 billion has been spent on. This is on behalf of the people of Machakos County.
Our counties are struggling to give even a modicum of basic services under very tight budgetary constraints and then we are given examples of money spent on flowers and two legal firms.
Remember these are statements based on official papers which are formally in his possession who is a serving member of the Finance Committee. He also has an accounting background.
Both he and the interviewer are clearly stunned by these mind boggling and jaw breaking facts and figures.
Remember the examples he is giving are just a microcosm of what is happening throughout much of the country.
Look at it another way and imagine how all this rot and wastage has eaten away at the structures and day to day running of national and county governments and their ability to deliver.
They are akin to crumbling buildings that are being eaten away by rust and termites. Its inhabitants are the people of Kenya. That for me is what is so, so worrying.
The examples which I have highlighted are just a wafer thin snippet of what is happening. They are mere bitings.
Oil deal
I have asked questions at several others time and again. How much more did the country and its consumers pay for the government-to-government fuel oil deal?
One that comes immediately to mind is the proposed leasing of Jomo Kenyatta to an external contractor. I am not necessarily against the principle but how it was engineered.
The statement by Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi may answer some questions but fails to convince me about the process and how the decision was arrived at.
Robert Shaw is a public policy and economic analyst:[email protected]
