The Kenya Christian Professionals Forum (KCPF) has sounded the alarm over what it describes as serious constitutional and legal breaches in the ongoing 2025/2026 national budget-making process, urging Parliament and the National Treasury to return to a path of legality, transparency, and accountability.
In a strong statement delivered during a media briefing under its Governance Accountability Program (GAP), KCPF accused the government of inflating revenue projections, engaging in unlawful borrowing, misapplying budget instruments, and sidelining public participation — all in contravention of constitutional requirements and public finance laws.
“The Constitution is not a suggestion; it is the supreme law. Budget-making must return to a lawful, participatory, and transparent path,” said Bernard Muchere, a Certified Fraud Examiner and former Internal Auditor at the National Treasury. “We are educating citizens on their rights and empowering them to demand accountability.”
KCPF took particular issue with the reliance on the Finance Bill as the platform for public engagement, arguing that this contravenes the Constitution. The Forum emphasized that genuine public participation should be anchored on revenue and expenditure estimates, as required by Articles 220(1) and 221 of the Constitution.
“The main focus should not be on the Finance Bill, but on the revenue estimates, loans and grants — to root out budgeted corruption where budgets are not supported by corresponding documented expenditure,” said KCPF Chairman Charles Kanjama.
Kanjama criticized the National Assembly for focusing on revenue-raising measures while ignoring the equally critical expenditure side of the budget, a move he warned enables corruption and undermines fiscal responsibility.
The Forum also accused the government of breaching both the Constitution and the Public Finance Management Act by borrowing funds without Parliamentary approval and using borrowed money to cover recurrent expenditures — a direct violation of Article 220(1)(b) and Section 15(2)(c) of the PFM Act.
KCPF warned that such practices threaten the country’s economic stability, with borrowing increasingly being used to fund consumption rather than development. The organization further claimed that Kenya’s debt ceiling has already been breached, pushing the country deeper into economic vulnerability.
“Borrowing done outside the confines of the Constitution is not sovereign debt,” said KCPF. “Such debt should not be passed on to future generations as a legitimate national obligation.”
The Forum flagged the government’s pattern of inflating revenue estimates, which it said creates room for slush funds, wasteful spending, and corruption through supplementary budgets.
“When you inflate revenue, you create space for slush funds that are later captured through corruption-ridden supplementary budgets,” KCPF warned.
KCPF urged oversight agencies — particularly the Office of the Auditor General and the Controller of Budget — to increase scrutiny on revenue projections and crack down on unjustified spending masked as budget adjustments.
To restore credibility to the budget process, KCPF is calling on Parliament to initiate a national debt audit to identify and isolate unconstitutional and unsustainable debt. The Forum insists that any future borrowing must be aligned with lawful, transparent, and development-focused objectives.
Moreover, KCPF is demanding that the Finance Bill currently under public review be put on hold until the National Treasury publishes the constitutionally required estimates of revenue and expenditure, which must then undergo structured and accessible public participation.
With the constitutional budget deadline of June 12 fast approaching, KCPF has urged the National Assembly and the National Treasury to urgently reverse irregular practices and recommit to genuine public finance reform.
“We are at a turning point. The government must uphold the Constitution, not just in word but in deed. Citizens deserve a lawful and transparent budgeting process,” said Muchere.
KCPF has pledged to continue civic education efforts and mobilize Kenyans to defend the constitutional right to participate in how public finances are planned and spent.