Post by Economist on Dec 4, 2007 23:06:09 GMT 3
ODM Manifesto to bankrupt Kenya says Economic Insutute
December 5, 2007:
Orange Democratic Movement’s quest to re-engineer government through creation of new institutions will add pressure (160 Billion within the first 6 months) on an already strained national budget, a critique of the party’s manifesto says.
The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) — a private policy think tank — said ODM candidate Raila Odinga’s focus on a new structures will increase the size of government with extra demands on the exchequer.
“This re-engineering can only be done at a great expense with government becoming bigger and more pervasive, contrary to what Kenyans have asked for,” the IEA said.
Increased cost of running government is mainly expected to come from the highly debated devolved government fronted by ODM. The system seeks to transfer power from the centre to various levels of government for what the party say will ensure equitable development in the country.
Devolved government, which ODM is rooting for is based on the Bomas draft Constitution that proposed to phase out the current administrative units and to replace each district with a regional government whose affairs will be managed by an elected governor, a council and an executive committee.
IEA says the initial cost of setting up the devolved structures would be prohibitive even as ODM promises to take upto 40 per cent of the national resources to the regions.
Criticism of the ODM manifesto is contained in an IEA bulletin that was released to participants at a public forum convened to discuss it last week.
ODM has promised to deliver a new constitution based on the Bomas Draft “within the first six months” of ascending to power.
IEA says replacing the current presidential system with a parliamentary one would cost the country approximately Sh70 billion to implement.
This cost could rise even further should the party seek to implement the poverty eradication measures.
To eradicate poverty, the manifesto says an ODM government would establish social welfare programmes to “guarantee social justice, social emancipation and a redress of the imbalance between powerful teams and weak using a team of skilled people to oversee the reengineering of the economy.”
IEA estimates that such a social programme would cost about Sh90 billion assuming that 20 per cent of the population that are classified as very poor get a cash voucher of Sh35 per day.
Critics say heavy public expenditure has denied Kenya the opportunity to invest such funds in development projects, according to a UNDP released early this year.
Total expenditure on security rose to nearly 6.92 per cent in the 2003/2004 fiscal year up from 3.73 per cent between 1998 and 2003.
ODM says it will increase the amount of resources to law enforcement organs and train more police officers in addition to strengthening the criminal justice system.
Though the IEA reckons that the quest for an efficient justice system is a step in the right direction, it criticise ODM for failing to reveal how it plans to tackle the dual challenges of inadequate resources and corruption that have been the main obstacles to reforms in the system.
On corruption, it faulted ODM for failing to expound on how the Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission will help the government to deal with the political class.
December 5, 2007:
Orange Democratic Movement’s quest to re-engineer government through creation of new institutions will add pressure (160 Billion within the first 6 months) on an already strained national budget, a critique of the party’s manifesto says.
The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) — a private policy think tank — said ODM candidate Raila Odinga’s focus on a new structures will increase the size of government with extra demands on the exchequer.
“This re-engineering can only be done at a great expense with government becoming bigger and more pervasive, contrary to what Kenyans have asked for,” the IEA said.
Increased cost of running government is mainly expected to come from the highly debated devolved government fronted by ODM. The system seeks to transfer power from the centre to various levels of government for what the party say will ensure equitable development in the country.
Devolved government, which ODM is rooting for is based on the Bomas draft Constitution that proposed to phase out the current administrative units and to replace each district with a regional government whose affairs will be managed by an elected governor, a council and an executive committee.
IEA says the initial cost of setting up the devolved structures would be prohibitive even as ODM promises to take upto 40 per cent of the national resources to the regions.
Criticism of the ODM manifesto is contained in an IEA bulletin that was released to participants at a public forum convened to discuss it last week.
ODM has promised to deliver a new constitution based on the Bomas Draft “within the first six months” of ascending to power.
IEA says replacing the current presidential system with a parliamentary one would cost the country approximately Sh70 billion to implement.
This cost could rise even further should the party seek to implement the poverty eradication measures.
To eradicate poverty, the manifesto says an ODM government would establish social welfare programmes to “guarantee social justice, social emancipation and a redress of the imbalance between powerful teams and weak using a team of skilled people to oversee the reengineering of the economy.”
IEA estimates that such a social programme would cost about Sh90 billion assuming that 20 per cent of the population that are classified as very poor get a cash voucher of Sh35 per day.
Critics say heavy public expenditure has denied Kenya the opportunity to invest such funds in development projects, according to a UNDP released early this year.
Total expenditure on security rose to nearly 6.92 per cent in the 2003/2004 fiscal year up from 3.73 per cent between 1998 and 2003.
ODM says it will increase the amount of resources to law enforcement organs and train more police officers in addition to strengthening the criminal justice system.
Though the IEA reckons that the quest for an efficient justice system is a step in the right direction, it criticise ODM for failing to reveal how it plans to tackle the dual challenges of inadequate resources and corruption that have been the main obstacles to reforms in the system.
On corruption, it faulted ODM for failing to expound on how the Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission will help the government to deal with the political class.