This was the shocking question confronting Parliament yesterday,
prompting the Speaker to order for a ministerial statement on Wednesday.
It all began when Imenti Central MP Gitobu Imanyara rose during
Question Time to demand a ministerial statement, claiming the Finance
minister had misled MPs to believe he would need only Sh22 billion, but
had used their approval to withdraw Sh31 billion. Imanyara, who tabled
figures to back up his allegations, claimed the amount could be
funneled into questionable contract payments such as Anglo Leasing and
the Ken-Ren projects, or a secret kitty.
The Standard last night was unable to reach Uhuru nor any of the Treasury officials for independent comment.
The Imenti Central MP said the figures presented by Uhuru, also a
Deputy Prime Minister, when requesting the estimated Sh26 billion
Supplementary Budget for eight ministries and the Judiciary for the
remainder of the 2008/2009 financial year, are manifestly different and
higher than those he actually intended to withdraw from the public
coffers.
Imanyara suggested that Treasury officials could have conspired to
falsify the figures "to steal Government money to secretly pay (pending
bills) such as Anglo Leasing and Ken-Ren".
"If these figures are falsified, we need to be told," charged the MP.
Wondering who was responsible for the apparent contradictions, the MP
asked whether Uhuru was aware that he tabled falsified documents in the
House.
The figures tabled by the MP showed that the Office of the
Vice-President and Ministry of Home Affairs had been allocated Sh374
million for personal allowances in Uhuru's Supplementary Budget, yet
Parliament actually approved just Sh62 million.
According to Imanyara's figures, the minister had given Sh593 million
to the Agriculture ministry when Parliament had voted just Sh478
million.
Parliament approval
And in the Medical Services ministry, the minister had allocated Sh127
million, yet the House had approved Sh58 million. A similar case
obtained for the Ministry of Public Works with Sh121 million against
parliamentary approval of just Sh12 million.
For the Judiciary, according to Imanyara, it had been allocated Sh288 million yet Parliament had approved Sh227 million.
Imanyara's figures indicated the Government had allocated Sh8 billion
more for the Ministry of Education Parliament approved Sh21 billion
but figures showed a whopping Sh29 billion for the sector.
The Finance Minister, according to Imanyara, also published figures
suggesting that Parliament approved Sh63 million for personal
allowances in the Immigration ministry, yet in actual fact the House
approved only Sh33 million. In the Ministry of Youth Affairs, there was
a figure of Sh52 million, yet Parliament's records showed an approval
for only Sh2.6 million.
Finally, Parliament approved Sh510 million for the Ministry of Science
and Technology, but the documents showed that a higher figure of Sh603
million from the Treasury.
Additional funds
Separately, corruption watchdog Mars Group's analysis of the
Supplementary Budget and comparison of figures within the Approved
National Budget showed systematic differences that may have caused
Parliament to vote for additional funds that were not necessary.
It showed that there were more than 200 such budget line items across
35 ministries, and that the total figure in dispute was just over Sh9.6
billion that was removed from last year's Approved Estimates for
unknown reasons.
Mars said the effect was an unexplained Sh36.3 billion discrepancy and
actual loss of Sh9.6 billion plus "the unjustifiable request and
approval of Sh26.6 billion on 200 budget line items.
"The business of tax money is serious. The report made to Parliament
through the Supplementary Estimates is inaccurate. It is criminal to
mislead Parliament that the figures in the Supplementary Budget are the
same as the approved estimates," said Mars Group, whose chief executive
is Mwalimu Mati.
The group posed: "Parliament passed the Budget in one afternoon without
scrutiny. Can Kenyans claim to have representation in Parliament?"
"The Kenyan citizen will have to ultimately seek accountability from
Parliament and the Executive to end corruption and impunity, if Kenya
is to survive the problems it has so as to deal with in Agenda 4 of the
National Accord," Mars said.
The Standard
Post published in: Zimbabwe News