Tuesday, 4 March, 2025
Senate Devolution Committee meets with the State Department of Devolution, COG and IGTRC to consider the 2025 BPS๐๐๐ซ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฒ, ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ฎ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐๐๐
The Senate Standing Committee on Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations met with the State Department of Devolution, the Council of Governors, and the Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee today to consider the 2025 Budget Policy Statement (BPS).
The 2025 BPS, themed "Consolidating Gains under Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda for Inclusive Green Growth,โ sets out the broad strategic priorities and policy goals that will guide national and county governments in preparing their budgets for the 2025/2026 Financial Year.
It focuses on five core thematic areas: Agricultural Transformation and Inclusive Growth; Transforming the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise (MSME) Economy; Housing and Settlement; Healthcare; and Digital Superhighway and Creative Industry.
The Senator Mohamed Abass-led Committee noted with concern that the BPS proposes to allocate Ksh405.1 billion to counties, an increase of Kshs.17.7 billion, but is not clear whether non-discretionary commitments by county governments such as contributions towards the housing levy and social health insurance are catered.
Senators also noted that although the Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee (IGRTC) delineated the functions between the national and county governments, the cost of the functions and the guidelines to implement the transfer of functions have not been provided.
โThe budgetary ceilings for the National Government and county governments have not effected changes in the gazette notice on the delineation of functions,โ Senator Abass said.
They decried the delayed approval of the County Government's Additional Allocations for the 2024/2025 Financial Year saying it would have implications such as delayed implementation of the proposed programmes.