Okoa Uchumi Campaign Responds to Executive’s Actions Post Finance Bill 2024 Rejection

By Aoma Keziah,

The Okoa Uchumi Campaign has issued a statement, addressing the People’s Budget and responding to the Executive’s actions following the public rejection of the Finance Bill 2024. The campaign, which has been at the forefront of advocating for economic justice and fiscal accountability, expressed its concerns and outlined its stance on the recent developments.

In their statement,The Okoa Uchumi Campaign representatives highlighted the People’s Budget as a framework is  designed to promote inclusive growth and ensure equitable distribution of resources. The campaign emphasized that the People’s Budget prioritizes social services, education, healthcare, and infrastructure development, aiming to uplift the standard of living for all Kenyans.

“The rush to sign the Appropriation Bill reeks of mischief, mainly because any failure to finalize the appropriation Bill in time is well anticipated in the Constitution under Article 222(1), which permits the National Assembly to authorize the withdrawal of up to 50% of the estimated expenditures from the Consolidated Fund pending presidential assent to the Appropriation Bill.” Read the statement

They also  noted that there  would be no crisis in meeting Kenyans’ demands for prudent and responsible expenditure instead of betraying the people’s will by using a route to enact very high expenditure for the national government while stopping that of county governments which are responsible for most essential services.

They added that  continued statement on using the supplementary budget to amend the Appropriation Act must cease and allow redress of measures for grave budgetary expenditure violations. That the government in seeking to address the demands of Kenyans led by Gen Zs, must come with clean hands through strict adherence to the rule of law, stating that  in recent developments, the President has outrightly violated and annihilated the provisions of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010, in issuing Gazette Notice No. 5261 of 2024, establishing a Presidential Task Force on Forensic Audit of Public Debt.

“ We wish to emphasize that we have called for a forensic audit of public debt that covers a longer term so as to give an end-to-end state of our public debt. The Terms of Reference of the Taskforce are what Kenyans need. We are, however, concerned that the establishment of the taskforce is in contravention of aspects of Article 229 of the Constitution, which establishes the Office of the Auditor General and vests the responsibility of auditing public debt exclusively on this Office.” They stated.

Moving forward, the  citizen and civil society platform Okoa Uchumi  demands that :

1. Parliament should enact a new appropriation law per the people’s wishes and in strict compliance with the Constitution and the law, preferably one based on zero-based budgeting, to disrupt the entrenched templates that have continued to perpetuate fiscal imprudence.
2. Parliament exercises its powers under Article 95(4)(c) and Article 211 of the Constitution as read with Section 37 of the Public Audit Act, to adopt a resolution requesting the Auditor General to undertake both a forensic and performance audit of all public debt acquired by Kenya since the promulgation of the Constitution of Kenya 2010. Parliament should provide clear terms of reference for the audit and put all its resources at the disposal of the Auditor General in undertaking this task. Parliament should also give the Auditor General a limited timeline within which to conclude the audit and report back to Parliament.
3. Upon receipt of the request from Parliament, the Auditor General submits to Parliament through a public memorandum everything the Office would require to conduct a comprehensive forensic and performance audit of Kenya’s public debt.
4. The findings should inform the restructuring of Kenya’s debt with necessary institutional and legislative reforms accompanied by firm corrective action against all government officials who may be found to have violated the Constitution and thereby subjected Kenyans to more than a decade of economic violence.
5. The budget allocations are reduced further by Ksh. 119,491,636,547 in addition to the Ksh. 177,000,000,000 cuts proposed by the President, which now totals Ksh296,491,636,547. All unconstitutional expenditures, including NGCDF, NGAAF, payment of advisors in place of established institutions, and payment of Chief Administrative Secretaries and offices of spouses of constitutional office holders, be struck off and not expended in any form or manner during this redress period as we await a new appropriation act for the year 2024/25.
6. The president rescinds and retracts the appointed forensic debt audit task force and allows the Auditor General to undertake the audit as part of the Office’s mandate under the Constitution
7. That the consolidation and austerity measures respect and recognize that we are a devolved system of government. Therefore, accord county governments adequate revenue and equal treatment.
8. The ODPP, EACC, Judiciary & ARA to fast-track the prosecution corruption cases, and review of charge sheets to include criminal proceedings to the accused persons implicated in the prosecutions, and in the same vein, sanction and debar public prosecutors who bangle public interest cases

The Okoa Uchumi Campaign applauded the public’s stance, viewing the rejection as a victory for democracy and public participation in fiscal matters citing that the rejection of the Finance Bill 2024 by the people was a clear message to the Executive that Kenyans will not accept policies that undermine their economic well-being,

In the wake of the Finance Bill’s rejection, the Executive has taken several steps that have drawn criticism from the Okoa Uchumi Campaign. They accused the Executive of attempting to push through unpopular measures without adequate public consultation. They pointed to recent decrees and administrative orders as evidence of a top-down approach that disregards the will of the people.

They concluded their statement with a call to action, urging Kenyans to remain vigilant and to continue advocating for policies that reflect their needs and aspirations. The campaign also announced plans to organize public forums and discussions to further engage citizens in the budgeting process.

The Okoa Uchumi Campaign’s statement underscores the growing demand for accountability and participatory governance in Kenya’s fiscal policy-making. As the debate over the People’s Budget and the Finance Bill 2024 continues, the campaign’s advocacy is expected to play a pivotal role in shaping the country’s economic future.