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The National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) has termed the 2023/24 national Budget as punitive, anti-poor and retrogressive.

The churches’ umbrella body accused the government and Members of Parliament who voted for the Finance Bill of being insensitive to the plight of majority of Kenyans who are already reeling from high cost of living.

Addressing the media at the Jumuia Conference and Country Home in Limuru yesterday, NCCK General Secretary Rev Chris Kinyanjui said the budget will make the lives of Kenyans worse.

“We are extremely concerned that contrary to our expectations and those of millions of Kenyans, the budget doesn’t explicitly present strategies to deliver Kenyans from the suffocating high cost of living,” said Rev Kinyanjui.

Kinyanjui said corruption and wastage of public resources were the greatest challenges facing the country. He challenged President William Ruto to spearhead a national attitude transformation in the civil service to end the mentality that encourages wastage of public resources.

“The greatest challenge facing the fiscal health of our nation is unmitigated culture of wastage, fraud and impunity in government,” he said.

The General Secretary said the country is over-ambitious and living beyond its means thereby exposing the public to the vagaries of poverty, despair and hopeless.

“Our sincere expectations were that the government would endeavour to cut down expenditure to match its income. Unfortunately, its borrowing locally and internationally, “ said NCCK.

On the onslaught on the media by some senior politicians, he cautioned the government against muzzling the press.

“It should dawn on the political class that the barrel of a pen is powerful than that of a gun,” said Kinyanjui.