House panels that could make or break Ruto reign
Parliament listens to President William Ruto’s address on September 29, 2022.
Key parliamentary committees at the core of assisting President William Ruto to achieve his election pledges have hit the ground running with a series of meetings expected to begin next week.
Some of the committees that will help make or break the President in endearing with his ‘hustler’ supporters include Trade, Industry and Cooperatives; Budget and Appropriation; Finance and National Planning; Labour; Education and Health.
The Trade committee, which is chaired by Embakasi North MP James Gakuya, is expected to consider regulations that will govern the much-awaited Hustler Fund, which President Ruto is expected to launch on December 1, just a day before the House begins its long Christmas recess.
President Ruto successfully pushed the ‘hustler’ narrative during campaigns in the run-up to August polls, which he won after beating Azimio leader Raila Odinga. He is, therefore, determined to ensure the fund comes to fruition.
Mr Gakuya told Sunday Nation that they are ready to put up the required legislative structures in place to actualise the fund.
“I’m aware that the President will launch the fund on December 1. On our side, we are ready to do anything required from us. We are ready to put all the structures required and will give it our full time, even extra to ensure everything is ready before the launch,” Mr Gakuya said.
Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui told Parliament during his vetting that the fund will be established through the PFM Act and approved by MPs.
The approval will be preceded by a policy statement, which will determine whether the fund will be stand-alone or domiciled in an existing fund. The lawmakers will also have a say in the determination of interest rate that will be charged on borrowing.
Although Mr Chelugui told MPs that the interest rate will be a single digit, he said the current discussion is whether to charge nine per cent or bring it down further.
Another powerful committee that will ensure most of the economic plans by President Ruto come to reality is the Budget and Appropriation chaired by Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro, a close ally of the Head of State.
Dr Ruto has said he intends to reallocate over Sh300 billion to priority areas.
Budget adjustments
Mr Nyoro told Sunday Nation they have already identified areas in the current budget that will be scaled down and the reallocation will be done to actualise the President’s wish.
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“Yes, we have identified the areas and, broadly, we are looking at the recurrent expenditure. The rest of the details will come later,” he said.
The Budget committee is so crucial as it has the mandate of investigating, inquiring into and reporting on all matters relating to coordination, control and monitoring of the Budget. It also discusses and reviews budget estimates and makes recommendations.
In addition, it examines bills related to the Budget, including the Appropriation Bill. Further, the committee evaluates tax estimates, economic and budgetary policies and programmes with direct outlays and examines the Division of Revenue. Dr Ruto will, therefore, need the committee to fulfil his election pledges.
Another critical committee is Finance and National Planning, which is chaired by Molo MP Kuria Kimani. Among other things, it is responsible for investigating and inquiring into all matters relating to the management, activities, administration, operations and estimates of ministries and departments
Mr Kimani said upon his election that they will have a breakdown of taxes and ascertain what increases prices of commodities, by how much and at what rate, to recommend ways of bringing down the cost of living.
“In view of the high cost of living, we are, in consultation with our leaders, looking into what are these taxes that are leading to the increase in the cost of living.”
All eyes will also be on how Parliament considers the report on the taskforce currently collecting views on the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC). The President promised that upon getting into office, he would review the curriculum and get ideas on how to make it better for stakeholders.
He will depend on Tinderet MP Julius Melly, who is chairing the Education committee. Mr Melly said they will first give their views as a committee to the taskforce before looking at the report on policy implementation.
President Ruto will also be looking to the Labour committee on the review of National Social Security Fund (NSSF) rates.
On the proposal to have the high-income earners pay higher monthly contributions to the National Hospital Insurance Fund, Health committee chairperson Robert Pukose said they are set to have their first meeting next week to draw up their calendar.
