President Uhuru Kenyatta has announced that the government has released Sh34 billion meant to cushion Kenyans from the high fuel prices and the end current shortage.
The government released the Sh34,446,813,295 from the Supplementary Budget towards its fuel stabilization programme amid a global energy crisis that is fast getting out of hand.
The President was speaking on Monday at State House, Nairobi where he signed into law five parliamentary bills including the 2022 Supplementary Appropriation Bill (Supplementary Budget).
He also assented to the 2021 Copyright (Amendment) Bill, the 2020 Kenya Deposit Insurance (Amendment) Bill, the 2022 Industrial Training (Amendment) Bill, and the 2019 Employment (Amendment) Bill.
Read More
The newly signed Supplementary Budget unlocks Sh139,752,936,287 exchequer for use in drought-related interventions; security operations; election preparedness; fuel stabilization; and settlement of pending bills among other pressing public needs.
In the supplementary budget, an extra Sh950 million was set aside for police recruitment to enhance enforcement officers in the country ahead of the August general election.
The Supplementary Budget has also allocated an extra Sh8,813,903,557 to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to enable it to sufficiently prepare for the election.
The government further allocated Sh1.4 billion to the Ministry of Defence for Kenya Meat Commission's livestock uptake program and Sh1.2 billion to the State Department for Devolution for direct drought mitigation efforts.
Other drought related allocations include Sh2.4 billion to the State Department for Social Protection, Senior Citizen Affairs and Special Programmes to cater for relief food to support families affected by drought; and Sh0.9 billion to the State Department for Arid and Semi-Arid Lands for drought management activities.
To enhance the roll out of the Competence Based Curriculum (CBC), the Supplementary Budget set aside Sh6.9 billion to the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) for teacher remuneration, training and related expenses.
The Ministry of Education got Sh2 billion in the Supplementary Budget for the construction of additional classrooms to ensure a smooth transition from 8-4-4 to the new system.
Sh4.9 billion was allocated to the NG-CDF to ensure ongoing infrastructure projects in Constituencies are done on schedule and other social programs continue uninterrupted.
The Copyright (Amendment) Bill, also signed into law by President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday, introduces a new formula in sharing of revenues collected from ring back tunes.
Section 30(c) of the new Copyright law provides as follows; premium rate service provider shall be entitled to 8.5%; telecommunication operator 39.5%; and the artist or owner of the copyright shall be entitled to not less than 52% of the revenue.
On its part, the new Employment (Amendment) Act gives reprieve to job seekers by requiring employers to only ask for clearance or compliance certificates “upon granting an offer of employment to a prospective employee.” Previously, prospective employees were required to avail such documentation during job application.
The Bills were presented to the President for signing by Solicitor General Kennedy Ogeto at an event attended by Treasury CS Ukur Yatani, Attorney General Paul Kihara and National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi.
Also present were National Assembly Majority Leader Amos Kimunya, National Assembly Budget and Appropriations Committee chair Kanini Kega and National Assembly Clerk Michael Sialai.