'Cosmetic' austerity measures? Gov’t urged to implement genuine cost cutting programmes

During a Citizen Digital X Space discussion on the austerity agenda, panelists broke down the main criticisms many Kenyans had against public spending and what wananchi expectations are from the government’s austerity measures.

President William Ruto last Friday announced a raft of austerity measures across various government agencies to align the country’s budgetary expenditure to the implications of the withdrawn Finance Bill, 2024.

President Ruto, addressing the nation from State House in Nairobi announced that at least 47 government bodies with almost similar mandates will now be dissolved and their staff absorbed into parent ministries.

This, he said, will enable the government to recoup funds previously used for their operational and maintenance expenses.

Ruto also said that the decision to fill the positions of Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) effectively stands suspended, further that the number of advisers attached to the Executive will be slashed by 50 per cent.

The Head of State went ahead to halt the purchase of new government motor vehicles for 12 months, providing an exception only to security agencies, while also stating that a new framework for the transportation of public officers will be developed.

These were some of the austerity measures announced.

However, Benard Njiiri, a senior research analyst at the Institute of Public Finance (IPF), said, “As we talk about these austerity measures, they should not be, mere cosmetic.  There has to be sincerity. There has to be political goodwill. When we mean cutting travel expenses, for example, it should happen.”

“We already witnessed that it can actually happen and it did during the COVID time. If you look at the control of budget reports, we were able to reduce travel expenses significantly. So it should even happen now. Those trainings that can be done at the Kenya School of Government here in Nairobi should not be taken to Mombasa,” he said.

He continued, “When Gen Z says, we want now action, not mere talk, that should be the tone from now onward.”

On his, part, John Thomi, a project officer at the National Taxpayers Association (NTA), said Kenyans are looking for genuine change and not just mere talk.

He said, “When you talk about austerity measures, there are other components that, go hand in hand with implementation. For instance, there is a need for redistribution and, taking the resources to the needful sectors. There is an issue of a stimulus package because as of now we are talking of many people being unemployed… When it comes to engaging the public and listening to the public, that's where we have a point of departure between policy makers within government and, sometimes also the legislature and the general public.”

Thomi continued, “The public has risen and citizens are unhappy with how the government has been using the taxes that are collected. When we talk about CASs, suspending their appointment does not really, speak to the expenses that we are to incur. When you talk about the 47 state corporations, they've not been able to list them so that we can be able to comment. So if at all it's another process that will go on for another year, then the expenses will still be there.”

Listen to Citizen Digital X Spaces here.