National Assembly Budget and Appropriations Committee chairman Samuel Atandi says Kenyans should brace for tough government measures occasioned by the 2025-26 budget cuts.
The Alego Usonga MP claimed that during President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration there was misuse of public funds exposing the country to the current economic woes.
Speaking ahead of the committee’s official sittings beginning this Wednesday, he blamed the previous government of excessive borrowing and misallocation of funds, with little to show in terms of tangible development.
He cited staggering figures of over Sh8 trillion borrowed between 2013 and 2022, while only about Sh5 trillion was invested in development during the same period.
“But the amount of money borrowed was about Sh8 trillion. So that means there was mismanagement of the economy. The other issue that happened is that so many projects were started, especially in the road sector,” he stated
The lawmaker added that some of these projects could not be funded and in the end, has placed President Ruto’s regime in a tight spot trying to address these project concerns.
“We were having projects that had stalled. Contractors had gone to court. They were suing the government for interest and for breach of contract. And so the road sector basically is one of the sectors that has stagnated since the new regime came into force.”
He also revealed that the country is now burdened with an estimated Sh1 trillion in annual interest payments on public debt — money he says should have been spent on critical sectors such as health and education.
Atandi singled out the road sector as one of the hardest hit by past financial recklessness.
He noted that hundreds of road projects initiated by the previous regime stalled due to lack of funding, prompting lawsuits from contractors and creating a logjam of unpaid bills.
The government has since embarked on a securitisation programme of the Road Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF), which has already raised Sh60 billion, helping contractors return to their worksites.
“This is a masterstroke solution. What was once seen as a looming scandal is now reviving the construction sector,” he said, defending the controversial move amid criticism.
Responding to questions about devolution funding, Atandi assured that counties would receive more than the initially proposed Sh450 billion, though he stressed that both national and county governments must share the burden of budget rationalisation.
Atandi also touched on recent revelations from the Pending Bills Verification Committee, which found that Sh270 billion in bills from the previous government were ineligible — indicating fraudulent or non-existent deliveries.
“That is confirmation of how badly the economy was run. These were phantom projects—ghost supplies,” he said, placing blame squarely on former administration.
The Budget Committee’s sittings will begin this week, with departmental committees set to present their revised expenditure proposals
“We are not here to politicise budgeting. We are here to fix what was broken, and to do so in a way that benefits all Kenyans equally,” he said.
by JACKTONE LAWI
