TIME FOR JUBILEE TO EAT The government could spend a staggering Sh2.5 billion on celebrations to mark 50 years of Kenya’s independence if a budget drafted by technocrats is approved by the Cabinet. Budgetary proposals from the Kenya@50 organising committee reveal lavish spending on activities and projects such as billboards, statues and entertainment as the country marks its golden jubilee in the second week of December this year. The huge budget includes Sh690 million for events management and logistics, Sh286 million for conference and exhibition during the one week celebration, Sh300 million for publicity and communication, Sh365 million for entertainment and a handsome Sh320 million to go towards identifying Kenya’s most prominent personalities. It also includes Sh50 million for erecting a bronze statue of retired President Mwai Kibaki hoisting aloft a copy of the Constitution during its promulgation on August 27, 2010. In an interview with the Sunday Nation , Interior Coordination and National Government Principal Secretary Mutea Iringo, who chairs the national organising committee, maintained that the Sh2.5 billion budget was yet to be approved by the government but added that the private sector would be brought on board to fund part of it. “The budget has not been finalised yet, but I expected it Thursday July 25. The plan is that the government should not fund it alone. We want the private sector and other stakeholders to take part. This is everybody’s business, and we want all to take part. However, I’ve instructed the committee that I don’t want to see a budget that is too large,” said Mr Iringo. The figures are likely to infuriate Kenyans coming in the wake of a month-long countrywide teachers’ strike that paralysed learning in public schools and a ballooning public wage bill that is consuming over half of the country’s budget. Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) chairman Wilson Sossion criticised the huge expenditure coming at a time when the government says it has no money to improve salaries in the public sector. “It is immoral to say the least. Sh2.5 billion is enough to educate all the needy children in the country. There is nothing to celebrate. Kenya at 50 is more of an ideological reflection of the post- independent Kenya than an extravagant spending by the country’s elite. The burden of funding the so-called celebrations will in one way or another be passed over to the taxpayer,” said Mr Sossion. Briefing members of the private sector on preparations for the event at a breakfast meeting on Thursday, Mr Iringo declared that the government was determined to ensure that the event eclipsed President Kenyatta’s inauguration ceremony on April 9 this year. “This event will perhaps even be bigger than the President’s inauguration ceremony and that is why we want to involve as many people as possible and ensure it is a success,” Mr Iringo said. “The government, in appreciation of the significance and magnitude of the 50th anniversary of independence celebrations, constituted the Ministerial 50th Anniversary of Independence Celebrations Preparatory Committee in May 2012,” the PS said. “This committee comprised officers drawn from the then ministry of Provincial Administration and Internal Security. It held several meetings, and recommended the form and content of the celebrations in a report submitted in September 2012,” he added. He stated that the activities were slowed between September last year and April this year because of the political campaigns leading to the March General Election. Minutes of the committee meeting held on July 9 this year indicate that the budget for former president Kibaki’s bronze statue was raised from Sh15 million to Sh50 million. “It was agreed by the members that the Sh15 million budget for a special monumental bronze statue of H.E. Mwai Kibaki raising aloft a copy of the Constitution should be enhanced to Sh50 million. Members felt that this was necessary so as to have a monument that was of the right scale,” the minutes read.
Posted on: Sat, 27 Jul 2013 20:48:04 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015