Keep the government lean to reduce wastage

Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi on October 17, 2022. PHOTO | DENNIS ONSONGO | NMG

Kenya must stop creating new offices that increase spending, but add little to no value to the taxpayer.

The newly created offices, including that of Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, have now been forced to rely on other ministries for funding of day-to-day operations after the Treasury failed to disburse their budgeted monies.

This means they are stifling the activities of other ministries.

Treasury data show that 13 new offices, which were created in November, are yet to receive money from the government’s main account at the end of March.

The Treasury may blame the delay on legal paperwork and logistics following the signing of the Supplementary Budget, which raised the recurrent expenditure by Sh87.57 billion partly to fund the newly created offices.

But the elephant in the room is that we do not need all these offices.

Kenya is already dealing with a bloated government after the increase of State departments to 51 and the appointment of 50 chief administrative secretaries, whose value to public service have been questioned.

If the new administration is committed to reining in wastage, it must stop rewarding political loyalty at the expense of the taxpayer.