The future of thousands of students hangs in the balance after the government revealed a staggering Sh218 billion shortfall in critical expenditures, with education bearing the brunt of the cuts.
The financial year 2025-26 budget has left scholarships, university sponsorships, and basic education programmes unfunded, sparking fears of widespread disruptions to learning.
Among the hardest-hit sectors is higher education, where a Sh79.7 billion gap threatens to derail government-sponsored university placements.
The State Department for Higher Education and Research reported a Sh45.7 billion pending bill for students in private universities, alongside a Sh34 billion shortfall for the Higher Education Loans Board (Helb) and scholarships.
The National Treasury attributed the unfunded MDAs requests, totalling Sh944 billion, to a “constrained fiscal framework”.
“These expenditures were not accommodated in the 2025-26 budget due to the constrained fiscal framework and will be reviewed for possible funding in the course of implementation should the fiscal situation improve,” Treasury PS Chris Kiptoo told MPs on Thursday in a presentation on behalf of CS John Mbadi.
In disclosures to the Alego Usonga MP Sam Atandi-led budget committee, Treasury said next year’s budget has a deficit of Sh877 billion of which Sh284 billion is to be borrowed externally and Sh592 billion from local sources.
Public universities, which are already reeling from chronic underfunding, now face a bigger cash-flow crisis.
University chiefs and the staff union bosses have warned of potential fee hikes and staff strikes, respectively, if the gaps persist.
Students have for long voiced concerns about frequent delays in loan disbursements, leaving many struggling to pay tuition and meet daily subsistence expenses.
Others have taken issue with inadequacy of the allocated funds, more so those from poor backgrounds.
The crisis extends to primary and secondary schools, where the State Department for Basic Education faces a Sh39.5 billion deficit.
Free Day Secondary Education (FDSE), which supports over three million students, is short Sh21.9 billion, while the Free Day Junior School programme lacks Sh4 billion.
The school examination budget, slashed by Sh11 billion, is also among those that Treasury says would be funded over time.
Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions, critical for Kenya’s skilled labour pipeline, are also grappling with a Sh11.3 billion scholarship shortfall.
The Treasury attributed the cuts to a Sh876.1 billion fiscal deficit, with more than Sh591.9 billion to be borrowed domestically.
Yet, as the government seeks Sh221.2 billion in commercial loans, critics question the priorities.
Beyond the education crisis, President Ruto’s administration faces mounting political pressure to deliver his signature programmes.
This follows his grand ideas from fertiliser subsidies to police reforms have been affected in the Sh218 billion austerity purge.
The hardest blow is on agriculture where a Sh10 billion cut has affected the fertiliser subsidy programme, threatening his promise to smallholder farmers.
Also unavailable are funds for tea reforms (Sh4.5 billion), strategic food reserve (Sh2 billion) and seed subsidy (Sh1.7 billion).
The National Police Service has a shortage of Sh17.5 billion in modernisation funds, including Sh9.9 billion for officers’ medical cover.
Healthcare, a pillar of Ruto’s Universal Health Coverage pledge, bled Sh21 billion, with the Emergency Illness Fund and primary care grants halved.
In what could escalate the ongoing UHC doctors strike, Treasury says it has no Sh3.9 billion, which is to cater to stipends for the health interns.
KRA staff who were anticipating salary raises may have to wait longer in the face of the Sh8 billion shortage.
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