This archive report was first published on 23 June 2020.
On June 23, 2020, Kenya's National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani presented his maiden budget, which has been widely criticized for its failure to address key challenges in the agricultural and industrial sectors.
Despite the government's Big Four Agenda, which emphasizes the importance of boosting agricultural and industrial growth, the budget allocated only Sh3 billion to subsidize inputs for small-scale farmers, without addressing the challenges that prevent these inputs from reaching the farmers.
Furthermore, the allocation of Sh3.5 billion to expand irrigation at community and household level has been criticized for ignoring the issues raised in many counties, where abandoned dams have become death traps for children.
The budget's neglect of manufacturing is particularly concerning, as analysts had expected it to address the real problems facing the industrial sector, including a lack of investments in new industries and the expansion of existing ones.
Instead of setting aside funds to establish industries that could produce goods locally, Yatani allocated only Sh18.3 billion to manufacturing, the bulk of which will be used to build industrial parks.
Experts argue that the building of industrial parks and special economic zones is not a substitute for establishing industries, as the world is awash with similar facilities competing for a limited number of direct foreign investors.
