1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Overview
1. Hon Members, it is a great honour and privilege
to present the highlights of the first budget of the Administration of
H.E the President, Hon Uhuru Kenyatta, in accordance with section 40 (1)
and (2) of the Public Finance Management Act, 2012, and Standing Order
No.241 of the National Assembly.
2. But before I proceed, Hon Members, allow me to
take this early opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to His
Excellency the President for appointing me as Cabinet Secretary for the
National Treasury and entrusting me with the important task of
spearheading our agenda of transforming and elevating our economy to a
higher growth path.
3. Hon Members, let me also, at the onset, thank
the Budget and Appropriation Committee, under the chairmanship of Hon
Mutava Musyimi, for the constructive engagement during the parliamentary
review of the Budget Estimates that we presented on 30th April 2013.
4. Hon Members, in the just concluded general
elections, Kenyans showed the world that we have come of age and that we
can conduct our business in a peaceful and civil manner. Thanks to our
new Constitution and the institutions that we created under this legal
instrument.
5. All Kenyans should be proud that we confounded
our cynics who had to contend with the fact that we could successfully
hold a robust political competition and yet find a shared understanding
on matters of concern to all of us – that is, building a better Kenya
for the current generation of Kenyans and for the generations to come.
6. Hon Members, we must now seize this opportunity
to urgently address the main challenges that we continue to face,
notably: elevating the economy to a higher and sustainable growth path,
creating decent jobs, and significantly reducing poverty while
preserving macroeconomic stability. As H.E the President pointed out in
his address to the joint session of Parliament on 16th April 2013, none
of us can rest or sleep peacefully until every Kenyan can find a job
easily, feed himself and his family and easily exploit available
opportunities to improve their own lives.
7. The President has correctly challenged us to
show results to Kenyans. We, therefore, need to re-examine our
strategies, and to set a more comprehensive and focused plan of action.
We also need to build a new common purpose so that we can use our skills
and resources to deal with our economic and social challenges. The
President has already shown the way.
8. He has restructured the government, by
collapsing 44 ministries into 18 ministries and commenced the journey
for organizational restructuring and rationalizing public agencies that
is driven by the imperative of service delivery. The government is also
forging a new engagement with the business sector and development
partners through which we will mobilize our determination to build a
better Kenya that meets the aspirations of our people.
9. Hon Members, despite the progress we have made
over the past 50 years since independence, we still face various human
development challenges. The majority of our youth have no work. Income
inequality is high and about half our population still lives in abject
poverty. Indeed, a large number of Kenyans are still food insecure and
have low access to quality health services. As a consequence, we are
confronted with several social and economic challenges, including
unacceptably high rates of crime.
10. So we have to act now. We must strengthen the
institutions to deliver public services effectively. We must transform
the structure of our economy, so that all Kenyans can share in the
opportunities that our country offers. We must in our own way
demonstrate to the world that it is possible to transform our economy so
as to deliver an inclusive and broad-based development. We must also
ensure the system of devolved government succeeds.
11. Hon Members, the Government is ready to work
tirelessly to build a future in which all Kenyans can take pride and
equitably share the benefits. So the key message of this budget is,
therefore, “Transformation for Shared Prosperity”
