Githae says IEBC has 'enough' poll funds

Finance minister Njeru Githae has said that the Treasury is confident the Sh17.5 billion is "enough" for the electoral commission to conduct the next General Election.

Speaking in Parliament's Continental House when he met the House Budget Committee Tuesday, Mr Githae said the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) should not blackmail the House with a threat that without the money, the elections would be a sham.

"The figures from the Treasury are not cooked somewhere. We met the IEBC, went through their budget line by line and what we gave them was fair and reasonable," said Mr Githae.

"The money is enough and adequate for the commission to prepare for a fair and adequate and credible elections."

The minister told the committee that the Treasury was "ready" in regard to the rollout of devolved units.

He said the Treasury was training officers to dispatch to the county Treasuries.

"We want the counties to begin as soon as the elections are done, on the following day," he said.

Mr Githae told the committee chaired by Elias Mbau (Maragua) that the Treasury was worried about the maize disease that is rampant in the South Rift.

"We're very worried. What really happened? Was it sabotage? Is it biological warfare? It is very strange and we've told the Ministry of Agriculture to investigate," said the Finance Minister.

The minister said food security was a huge problem. However, he added that the problem was that farmers were growing crops that were not suited in their localities, and that's the reason for persistent poor harvests.

"Drought is a natural phenomenon. But famine is not," said Mr Githae, as he called for post-harvest measures.

He added that the revenue targets, which are 14 per cent up from last year, will be met.

The minister said the taxman, was carrying out tax reforms especially to do with netting the untaxed bracket.

Mr Githae said landlords and the workers in the informal sector will all pay tax once the reforms are done, and that such a move will boost the country's revenues.

"We have two groups of people that pay tax without problems: the employed individuals and the corporations. We want everyone who is eligible to pay tax to be compliant," the minister said.

The minister said the Treasury had put in place measures to tame the inclination to "turn the public service into employment bureaus."

"That will be a disaster," said Mr Githae.