Parliament has been told that several activities in the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Investments are likely to be affected following the reduction of the budgetary allocation of the three state departments.

Principal Secretaries Juma Mukhwana (Industry), Hassan Abubakar (Investment Promotion), and Regina Ombam (Trade) told the National Assembly Trade, Industry, and Cooperatives Committee that several key development programmes may stall due to insufficient funding.

The Committee Chaired by Ikolomani MP Bernard Shinali, was reviewing budget estimates for the financial year 2025/26 where the State department of Industry has been allocated Sh 8.6 billion while the State department of Investment Promotion had been allocated Sh 2.1 billion.

Mukhwana told the committee that his department faces a shortfall of Sh610 million in the development budget after being allocated Sh8.7 billion instead of Sh9.1 billion proposed in the 2025 Budget Policy Statement.

“I would like to inform Parliament that the Sh610.2 million deficit in our budget in the coming financial year will delay ongoing projects which include initiatives focused on job creation, value addition, and economic growth,” said Mukhwana.

The Principal Secretary said that some of the affected projects include research laboratories at the Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute (KIRDI) and County Aggregation and Industrial Parks (CAIPs), most of which have stalled.

Mukhwana told the legislators that the County Industrial Parks have been allocated Sh4.6 billion, Sh500 million for the construction and equipping of industrial research, laboratories at KIRDI, and Kenya Industry and Entrepreneurship Project Sh300 million.

He told the committee that Sh57 million has been allocated for infrastructure and civil works development at the Kenya Industrial and Training Institute, Sh35 million for apparel and value addition centres (Nyando and Lusegeti), and Sh30 million for the Kenya Accreditation Service.

Shinali said that it was important for the government to finish ongoing industrial park projects in 18 counties before launching new ones so as to ensure that Kenyans get value for money since it will be a great disservice to citizens if they are not completed.

Aldai MP Marianne Kitany suggested that county governments and private partners should be allowed to fund and manage the parks to ensure that they are completed, so that they can serve the intended goal, which was to create jobs for Kenyans.

Abubakar told the Parliamentary Committee that his department received Sh2.13 billion for development, however, it required Sh12.6 billion, leaving a gap of Sh10.46 billion which he pointed out will seriously affect project implementation and delay completion.

The remarks by the PS triggered concern among MPs especially with the drastic reduction in the budget in the state department of Investment Promotion even as they wondered why most projects remained incomplete despite budgetary allocations.

Ombam told the legislators that the State Department of Trade had been allocated Sh4 billion in the financial year 2025/26, with Sh3.6 billion for recurrent expenditure, while Sh369 million is for development expenditure.

The PS said they required Sh500 million to operationalize County Aggregation and Industrial Parks with the committee directing her department to coordinate with the state department of industry and propose a joint budget for the project.