Think tank faults creation of State funds

An economic think tank has faulted the State for setting up several agencies to administer special funds amid claims of overlapping roles and huge costs to the taxpayer.

Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) chief executive Kwame Owino said questions abound on whether the majority of the agencies have delivered on their mandate despite huge spend on salaries, allowances and office rent. “In the current year, there are new special funds created, and these are basically parastatals. They have boards of directors and office blocks paid for by the taxpayer. Others we are not sure if actually, they have served their purposes,” he said.

Treasury Secretary Henry Rotich admitted the existence of overlaps among parastatals that administer special funds and directed a merger of the three corporations that oversee the distribution of funds to the youth, women and the disabled.

“To increase efficiency and eliminate overlaps, I have consolidated the three funds into one to be known as Biashara Kenya Fund,” he said last week in his Budget statement.

These are the Uwezo Fund, the Youth Enterprise Development Fund and Women Enterprise Development Fund, which will be consolidated into the Biashara Kenya Fund.