{"id":439099,"date":"2011-06-10T04:13:42","date_gmt":"2011-06-10T04:13:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ghana-mma.com\/xmlimport\/index.php\/2011\/06\/10\/kenya-more-mouths-for-a-shrinking-cake\/"},"modified":"2011-06-10T04:13:42","modified_gmt":"2011-06-10T04:13:42","slug":"kenya-more-mouths-for-a-shrinking-cake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/10\/kenya-more-mouths-for-a-shrinking-cake\/","title":{"rendered":"Kenya: More Mouths for a Shrinking Cake"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

Luke Mulunda<\/p>\n

8 June 2011<\/p>\n

\n

Nairobi \u2014 For a man used to longer-hauls, the 500-metre walk from Harambee Avenue to Parliament was a short affair.<\/p>\n

But the walk was special, a political statement on the ranking of Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta within the Cabinet.<\/p>\n

A Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister is the most prominent minister. He is also a politician and a fan of the President.<\/p>\n

But Wednesday’s Budget was different. Instead of reading the normal Budget Speech — the most watched TV show after the football World Cup — he read a ministerial statement as punishment for ignoring sections of the new Constitution.<\/p>\n

Even the pomp and colour spiced with a red carpet were missing.<\/p>\n

Prestigious docket<\/p>\n

It’s understandable why the Finance Minister is such a prestigious docket.<\/p>\n

The Budget is the oil that lubricates government engines and determines how all Kenyans live. Whoever controls it literally pulls the purse strings.<\/p>\n

Mr Kenyatta has not resisted all temptation to earn political points from the Budget. With an eye on the Kibaki succession, you cannot fault him for that.<\/p>\n

In the PNU wing of the coalition, Mr Kenyatta stands out against others like Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka and Internal Security Minister George Saitoti.<\/p>\n

The son of Kenya’s first President Jomo Kenyatta exudes the confidence of a matured Finance Minister, dropping money jargon here and there.<\/p>\n

During his first days, he was under fire, accused of “creating” an error in the estimates of Sh10 billion in the 2009 Budget.<\/p>\n

But he not only survived, but also quietly gained influence, which he has used to press President Kibaki to support his economic policies.<\/p>\n

His success at driving this agenda signals his status as one of the President’s closest economic advisers.<\/p>\n

The policies he makes — and the balance they strike between slashing deficit and supporting economic recovery — could ultimately determine President Kibaki’s economic legacy.<\/p>\n

There is only one Budget before the General Election in August next year, and Wednesday’s was a key campaign platform for Mr Kenyatta who, as indicated in the estimates, has gone flat out to lure the youth with a Sh1 billion allocation for small and medium-size enterprises, as well as marginalised sections of the community like orphans and senior citizens.<\/p>\n

He has doled out Sh840 million for bursaries and Sh230 million, respectively, to improve their lot.<\/p>\n

“Our commitment to improving the lives of our people is steadfast,” Mr Kenyatta said when he released the Budget estimates last Wednesday.<\/p>\n

But Mr Kenyatta is caught between growing demands for cash and a shrinking revenue base. The government has expanded and only tough maths and accounting can balance his books.<\/p>\n

Kenya Revenue Authority’s collections are below target for the fiscal year ending June 30 and, with the economy reeling under high inflation and a drought that has cut food output, expect not just a more no-nonsense taxman, but also a frugal, meaner Finance Minister in days to come.<\/p>\n

The Ministerial Statement and subsequent debate will give Mr Kenyatta a much-needed break from The Hague blues.<\/p>\n

He is among six prime suspects facing trial at the ICC — accused of playing a prominent role in the post-election violence over the 2007 disputed presidential election results.<\/p>\n

The case hangs precariously against his presidential ambitious, alongside his co-accused, Mr William Ruto, the suspended Higher Education Minister.<\/p>\n

He hoped to appease communities displaced by the violence by allocating money to resettle those still in IDP camps and squatting on government land.<\/p>\n

Even then, Uhuru stands tall with a number of firsts. He has consistently delivered record-high budgets — the current one at Sh997 and the 2011\/12 at Sh1.155 trillion.<\/p>\n

He is also the first of two to hold the position of Deputy PM, a feat he shares with Mr Musalia Mudavadi.<\/p>\n

He is also the first and only Cabinet Secretary under the new law, as his PS Joseph Kinyua was sworn in a member of the Revenue Allocation Commission, thus committing Treasury to the new order.<\/p>\n

And that’s where the Budget problem comes in. While already operating under the new Constitution, he skipped a key process: submitting estimates to Parliament two months before the end of the financial year.<\/p>\n

And, of course, the dubious distinction of being the first Finance Minister in recent history to fail to read the traditional Budget Speech on Budget Day.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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\nKenya: More Mouths for a Shrinking Cake<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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