Treasury injects blackmail in bid to force MPs’ bill passage

The National Treasury yesterday tried to blackmail MPs into passing the controversial Finance bill in its original form warning that any amendments would result in budget cuts of upto Sh200 billion.

In a letter addressed to National Assembly Clerk Samuel Njoroge, National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u said that the areas that would be most affected by the budget cuts include allocations to counties, hiring of medical interns, the education sector especially the hiring of intern teachers, School Feeding Programme and university funding.

Treasury warned that the National Government Constituency Development (NGCDF) and the National Government Affirmative Action (NGAAF) would also suffer budget cuts.

In the letter, Ndung’u told the MPs that his office is also working on additional measures to be submitted to the house by end of today detailing how they intend to deal with the remaining deficit of Sh21.6 billion that is in the budget should the bill be amended.

Revenue shortfall

Reads the letter: “However, if the revenue raising measures contained in the Finance Bill 2024 are not approved by the National Assembly, there will be a likely revenue shortfall of approximately Sh200 billion. In order to remain within the provision of Section 40 (5) (a) and Section 50 of PFMA, 2012 Cap. 412A, we propose the following measures, general expenditure cuts across the three arms of Government, reverse the proposed additions in the Appropriations Bill for FY 2024/25 across all the MDAs; and reverse all additional new budget lines in the Appropriations Bill.”

And to further pressurize the lawmakers to pass the bill, the National Treasury, we learnt, sent to individual members text messages warning them that they risk losing monies meant for roads, electricity and NG-CDF.

Githunguri MP Gathoni Wamuchomba confirmed that she had received a text message from the National Treasury warning her that her constituency would lose money meant for roads if she fails to support the bill.

She said: “Yesterday evening I received a text warning me that I would lose money meant for roads. The text message was from the National Treasury.”

Received texts

Apart from Wamuchomba, other lawmakers from President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) who did not want to be quoted also confirmed that they had also received such texts asking them to pass the bill as is.

And in the National Assembly where debate on the bill was ongoing, Kiharu MP and Budget and Appropriations (BAC) chairperson Ndindi Nyoro warned members that they risk losing their NG-CDF monies including the Sh50 million that each constituency has been allocated for rural electrification.

He also warned them that NGAAF would lose Sh1.5 billion meant for the kitty, JSS intern teachers will not be hired as the allocation to the kitty will be removed, money meant for livestock restocking will be taken away while the Sh5.5 billion for cash transfers will also be removed.

In his submission before the house, Nyoro regretted that despite the Finance and Planning Committee chairperson and Molo MP Kuria Kimani announcing that they had agreed to drop some of the contentious clauses, he did not propose any revenue measures that should be adopted by the house.

He said: “There are no revenue measures proposed by Hon Kuria in his proposals in his report.”

But despite the move a number of MPs including Wamuchomba, Irene Mayaka (Nominated), Jared Okelo (Nyando), Mishi Mboko (Likoni), Peter Kaluma (Homabay Town) Peter Orero (Kibra) and Zamzam Mohamed ( Mombasa County Woman Representative) said they will not allow the National Treasury to blackmail them into passing the bill.

Kaluma told the National Treasury he was ready to lose everything if that is what it will take for the bill to be defeated on the floor of the house.

Said Kaluma: “I hear that NG-CDF will lose some money if we pass this bill. My constituents have said that if this is the price we will have to pay then so be it.”

Okelo said: “There’s a pattern that is developing in this House that each time we come up with objectivity on a matter such as this, we are being told that CDF will be reduced, there will be no KERRA road. This kind of blackmail must stop.”

Zamzam told the National Treasury to stop blackmailing them and allow MPs to exercise their constitutional right.

Mayaka told the National Treasury to stop threatening and blackmailing MPS into passing this bill which is going to affect Kenyans.

She said: “I have seen some of the proposals from the National Treasury but we are telling them that we will not allow them to threaten us.”

Orero told the National Treasury to stop threatening members that they will lose money meant for critical areas yet there are many ways of raising revenues.

He said: “ The National Treasury is threatening members so that they can buy their minds. They have come to tell us that critical areas will be affected. This is unacceptable.”

Intern teachers

In the education sector the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) will lose the Sh18.9 billion meant for the hiring of 26,000 of the 46,000 intern teachers into permanent and pensionable basis beginning July 1.

The decision is a big blow to the TSC and the teachers who have been waiting to be confirmed after several months of contention, including a strike, layoffs, and court battles.

The money to hire the JSS was allocated following the intervention of the Education Committee chaired by Tinderet MP Julius Melly.

The other areas in the education sector that would be affected include the school feeding programme as the Sh1.8 billion allocated to it following the intervention of the committee on education will be removed, Sh 1.6 billion meant for Infrastructure of schools will also have to go while the ongoing Technical and Vocational Training Centres (TVETs) and Technical training institutions (TTIs) would be stopped as they will lose a whooping Sh800 million.

Funding for the Differentiated Unit Cost model in universities would lose Sh2.1 billion, the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) will loose Sh 3.2 billion and the university Infrastructure project will lose Sh3 billion.                                                                        In the state department for medical services, hiring of medical interns will be affected as the said departments would lose the Sh 3.7 Billion allocated to it as well as the Sh 1 billion meant for Managed Equipment Services (MES).