Teachers Service Commission Grabs Largest Share of Proposed 2017/2018 Budget

Out of the total 2.62 trillion shillings tabled by the Treasury on Wednesday evening, 201 billion shillings will be taken by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).

This comes as a relief to teachers who have for a long time been crying out for the government to review their salaries and their needs in general as a commission. On that note, TSC got the largest allocation on the budget as compared to other sectors.

Infrastructure and Transport ministries also got big allocations of 187 billion shillings and 102 billion shillings respectively. The money is expected to be spent on among others things, improvement of roads, railways, airports and sea ports across the country. About Sh60 billion from the infrastructure-related development budget will be directed to fund the Phase II of the Standard Gauge Railway line which links Nairobi to Naivasha whose total budget is estimated at Sh155 billion

The Interior and the Defense dockets have been allocated 125.4 billion shillings and 103.6 billion shillings respectively. This allocation will be used to provide security as the country heads to the General Election and the fight against terror.

On the other hand, Treasury has allocated itself 122.7 billion shillings while the Energy ministry has been given 77.2 billion shillings in the budget that was tabled in the National Assembly by Majority leader Aden Duale.

Part of the Treasury allocations will go towards financing constituency development projects under the National Government Constituencies Development Fund while the Energy budget will be used for power generation and electricity supply.

The Ministry of Health has been allocated 61.1 billion shillings up from 60.2 billion shillings given to them last year. Out of this, 6.9 billion shillings has been set aside for compensation of employees and 16.1 billion shillings as capital transfers to other government entities including Level 5 hospitals.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission has also been included on the budget where it has received 21.4 billion shillings that will be used during the upcoming general elections in August. Last year, the commission received 19.3 billion shillings. Most of the equipment and material that would be used in the August 8 polls will be acquired in the current financial year.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will get 19.7 billion shillings out of which 1.5 billion shillings will go towards coordination of State protocol. The bulk of the 1.5 billion shillings will be used to cater for the preparations for the transition after the August election in the event of inauguration of a new president or reelection of the current Head of State.

Related: Cabinet Approves Kshs 2.62 Tn Budget Plan for FY 2017/18