Members of Parliament, MPs from the National Assembly Committee on Agriculture and Livestock put the Kenya Agricultural & Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) on the spot over the inflated expenditure which surpassed the approved 2024/25 FY budget.
Led by the Committee Vice-Chairperson, Brighton Yegon (Konoin), the lawmakers speaking during the inspection on Thursday October 9, questioned who approved the surplus spending.
“The approved budget and the associated spending are not in tandem. Yes, you could raise much more in your AiA but you must spend as budgeted, appropriated and approved by Parliament. So, who approved the excess spending for you,” David Kiplagat (Soy) asked.
However, according KALRO’s Director Finance David Muriithi, their budget was approved by the National Treasury a statement that the Members further questioned stating that the treasury does not have such powers.
“Your approved budget was Kshs 6,509 million but you spend Kshs 6,719 million which is in excess of what was approved,” Yegon stated.
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The delegation also sorted to know 2024/25 FY budget performance, expenditure breakdown, AiA performance and performance of outputs and targets.
The Committee also carried out inspection at the National Biosafety Authority (NBA).
The NBA the Acting CEO, Nehemiah Ngetich, told the Members that increased number of litigations and court injunctions on Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) releases and the proposed merger of NBA and KEPHIS are among the challenges they faced during the FY in question.
“We also faced underfunding and delayed disbursement of exchequer funds and we would like the Committee help us get adequate allocation and also in enactment of various bio safety legislative oversight,” the CEO told the Committee.
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