National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has said National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF) and the National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF) will be fully disbursed by the end of the 2024/2025 Financial Year.
The CS who appeared before parliament on Wednesday assured the MPs who had suspended all matters to handle the issue that the funds will be released on time, in order to fast track on the students bursaries and payment of various constituency constructors.
CS Mbadi revealed that the National Government Constituencies Development Fund was allocated Kshs. 68.2 billion in the budget for Financial Year 2024/2025, including arrears of Kshs.13.56 billion.
He said the National Treasury scheduled monthly disbursement of Kshs. 7 billion effective from January 2025 to ensure that the full allocation is disbursed by end of the financial year.
“As of today, an amount of Kshs. 27.5 billion has been disbursed, hence a balance of Kshs. 40.7 billion as per the attached schedule,” he said.
He cited January to March as the most challenging fiscal months, with the Treasury having to settle loan obligations and salaries totaling over Kshs. 150 billion.
The CS said in January alone, gov’t paid Kshs. 75 billion in loans and Kshs. 80 billion in salaries. The CS added that despite these pressures, the government had paid capitation for schools in full and committed to disbursing the balance of Kshs.40.7 billion NG-CDF by end of the financial year.
CS Mbadi dispelled fears of a potential default on Kenya’s external debt, saying the country was facing a liquidity problem, not insolvency.
MP Jane Kagiri raised concerns over delays in the release of funds for sanitary towels and gender-based violence initiatives.
“Our girl children are in dire need. Kindly give us a date when the money will be released,” she appealed to the CS.
The National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF), was initially allocated a budget of Kshs.3.5 billion in the Financial Year 2024/2025 which was subsequently reduced to Kshs. 2.7 billion in Supplementary II estimates.
By Obegi Malack
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