No money for a referendum, treasury has sh 600 Billion deficit only to be covered by loans - CS Ukuru Yattani

ODM leader Raila Odinga with Mt. Governors at Kinoru BBI rally, Meru. PHOTO | NMG

As Politicians continue with Building Bridges Initiative rally scramble, The National Treasury says there is no cash for a referendum.


According to the financial data released by the treasury, the government will have to source close to Sh 400 billion as a foreign loan and Sh 200 Billion local loans to be in a good position to balance books for the country.


" No money for a referendum, treasury has sh 600 Billion deficit only to be covered by loans either local or foreign," treasury boss Mr Ukur Yattani.


The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) currently has a budget of Sh4.4 billion, which will increase marginally by Sh200 million to Sh4.6 billion in the next financial year that starts in July.


 The allocations in the Sh2.7 trillion budget as outlined in the 2020/21 Budget Policy Statement (BPS), prepared by the National Treasury, shows that the electoral body will receive almost the same amount as it did this fiscal year.


That means, no allocation for the said BBI referendum.

" If the referendum was to be conducted, we would need a separate budget. In budgeting, we only plan for what is definite and at the time we were making this budget, the referendum had not been agreed upon,” said acting IEBC chief executive officer Marjan Marjan.


 The electoral agency’s request for an extra Sh1 billion to support continuous voter registration was declined. In addition, the money for boundary review was cut by Sh100 million to Sh400 million.


Kenya Revenue Authority expects to generate Sh2.1 trillion as revenue, leaving a shortfall of Sh614 billion to be financed through debt and grants. The net borrowing is expected to be Sh571.2 billion, out of which Sh345.1 billion will come from the foreign debt, while Sh222.9 billion will come from domestic debt.