Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has requested for one year to turn around the country’s economy for the better.

Speaking during President William Ruto’s tour of Homa Bay County, Mbadi noted the challenges in the current economy, stating that it would only take him a year to revive it.

“Ninakuhakikishia hii uchumi ya Kenya mtupatie one year; the second year itafufuka,” (I promise that if you give us one year; by the second year this economy will be revived) Mbadi said.

Ruto is set to preside over the thanksgiving ceremony of Mbadi in his Suba South backyard later on Thursday, August 29, 2024, after launching projects across the wider Homa Bay County.

On July 11, 2024, Ruto dissolved almost his entire cabinet with the promise of reconstituting it afresh in what he called a broad-based government.

He would later include four other top ODM officials in his cabinet including Cooperatives and MSMEs CS Wycliffe Oparanya, East African Community, ASALs & Regional Development CS Askul Moe, Mining & Blue Economy CS Hassan Joho and Energy & Petroleum CS Opiyo Wandayi.

In the changes, Ruto set out to achieve a government with a national outlook after nationwide protests rocked the country triggered by a controversial Finance Bill of 2024 which was later withdrawn.

Mbadi on the wheel

Mbadi, an accountant, was the chair of the public accounts committee in the National Assembly for years.

Among the areas experts have advised the CS to check are government largesse, unessential government expenses and debt rescheduling.

“Hii uchumi ya Kenya mtupatie mwaka moja, mwaka wa pili itafufuka” – CS John Mbadi pic.twitter.com/JkgDvMLwJi

— K24 TV (@K24Tv) August 29, 2024

While debt rescheduling could come with an extra burden of hefty interest, the experts believe it could plug the holes left by Ruto’s budget cuts which affected various sectors of the economy.

For instance, the education sector took a Ksh30 billion cut which completely removed capitation for the school feeding programme. Other sectors that had their budgets cut were health Ksh20 billion, abolishment of the confidential budgets, reduction of the president’s advisors by half, dissolution of 47 parastatals with overlapping mandates and a freeze on motor vehicle purchases except for security agencies.

Treasury has also announced they would be embarking on a mid-term revenue generation strategy that seeks to increase the KRA collections from the current 13.5 per cent of GDP to 20 per cent by the end of the financial year 2026/27.