Budget Committee blames cluster system for report delay

The chairperson of the Budget and Finance Committee, Rhino Chiphiko, has said his committee has delayed to present the report on the 2014/15 National Budget because of the new system, which incorporated input from cluster committees established under the new Standing Orders.

Chiphiko said in an interview on Monday that after much negotiations between his committee and chairpersons of the nine cluster committees, the report was concluded and was being printed.

He said the delay came about because the cluster committee leaders rejected the initial report of the Budget and Finance Committee, arguing they felt some issues were not reflected according to their findings.

“The committee is non-partisan and its report is technical in nature.

“But because we had to include input from the cluster committees, there were some issues they did not agree with, so they rejected it and we had to come up with a new one,” he said.

Chiphiko said there was need to design a new modality for inclusion of reports from cluster committees who felt they needed more input into the budget and finance report.

“We will have to come up with a new mechanism, maybe allow the cluster committees to present their own reports in the House,” he said.

However, Chiphiko added that the cluster system has enriched debate on the budget, leaving the committee to concentrate on the technical aspects of the 2014/15 budget, which amounts to K742 billion (US$1 800 970 874).