National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has reassured Members of the National Assembly that the 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.
How much is allocated to NG-CDF?
Appearing before National Assembly to respond to Members Questions, CS Mbadi revealed that the National Government Constituencies Development Fund was allocated Ksh 68.2 billion in the budget for Financial Year 2024/2025, including arrears of Ksh 13.56 billion.
“The National Treasury scheduled monthly disbursement of Ksh 7 billion effective from January 2025 to ensure that the full allocation is disbursed by end of the financial year,” stated the CS.
“As of today, an amount of Ksh 27.5 billion has been disbursed, hence a balance of Ksh 40.7 billion as per the attached schedule.”
While addressing Members of the National Assembly, Mbadi cited January to March as the most challenging fiscal months, with the Treasury having to settle loan obligations and salaries totaling over Ksh 150 billion.
“In January alone, we paid Ksh 75 billion in loans and Ksh 80 billion in salaries,” he said.
However, the CS said despite these pressures, the government had paid capitation for schools in full and committed to disbursing the balance of Ksh 40.7 billion NG-CDF by end of the financial year.
Bumula MP Jack Wanami Wamboka urged CS Mbadi to ensure funds realised timely, “As you gave the commitment you should have known. Do the needful so that we can support our people.”
Chair, Committee on National Government Constituencies Development Fund, Musa Sirma sought details on the amount to be released. He said, “the amount of Ksh 7 billion translates into Ksh 23 million per constituency. We would like to support the children who are going to school.”
John Mbadi’s take on Kenya’s external debt
Speaking on the country’s external debt, CS Mbadi dispelled fears of a potential default on Kenya’s external debt, saying the country was facing a liquidity problem, not insolvency.
“The challenge is not debt sustainability but liquidity. From 2034 to 2048, we won’t have any significant external debt obligations,” he told the House.
The National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF), was initially allocated a budget of Ksh 3.5 billion in the Financial Year 2024/2025 which was subsequently reduced to Ksh 2.7 billion in Supplementary II estimates.
CS Mbadi announced, “So far, an amount of 1.6Bn has been disbursed and will disburse the balance in the course of this month.”
MP Bensouda Osogo urged Treasury to release NGAAF in one lump sum at the beginning of the financial year. “We would like the CS to also give us a plan of releasing NGAAF the same way he has committed to NG-CDF,” she said.
The National Treasury CS said, “We saw no need to split the remaining amount. As of today, there is a zero balance on NGAAF disbursement.”
