Background Information

The planning and finance functions in the Kenyan Government dates back to the pre-independence period and can be traced to the Oliver Lyttleton Constitution of 1954, when the Ministry of Finance and Development was created. Since independence the functions of finance and planning have existed either under the same ministry or separately.

Article 225 (1) of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 (CK2010) provided for the establishment of the National Treasury through an Act of Parliament which stipulates its functions and responsibilities. Accordingly, this is actualized in Part III of the Public Finance Management Act 2012, which provides for its establishment, responsibilities and powers in respect of public financial management, fiscal and budget preparation and execution responsibilities among other functions. The Executive Order No. 1 of 2018 merged the National Treasury and Planning which expanded the mandate of the established National Treasury to incorporate the economic planning function.

Five-year National Development Plans have been produced as the basis of planning and implementation of development programmes and projects in Kenya. The first development plan was prepared for the period 1964-1970. To date, thirteen development plans have been prepared on a five-year basis. In 2003, the Government prepared the Economic Recovery Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation (the ERS). Thereafter, in 2008 the Kenya Vision 2030 was launched as the nation’s long term development blueprint, to be implemented in 5-year successive Medium Term Plans. The First Medium Term Plan covered the period 2008-2012 while the Second Medium Term Plan covered the period 2013-2017. The Third Medium Term Plan covering the period 2018-2022, was launched in November, 2018.

In 2001, the Government developed and launched a strategy for performance improvement in the Public Service; which culminated into the introduction of Results Based Management (RBM) in 2004. This strategy has since then been implemented through strategic plans which are drawn from respective national development plans. This Strategic Plan is anchored on the national development blue print – Kenya Vision 2030 – and its Third Medium Term Plan (MTP 2018-2022), the “Big Four” Plan, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Africa Agenda 2063. The National Treasury and Planning Strategic Plan 2018-2023 consolidates the achievements made and the lessons learnt in the previous Strategic Plan 2013/14 – 2017/18 as well as the feedback received from various public institutions and other stakeholders.

In order to effectively undertake its functions, the National Treasury and Planning is structured into The National Treasury and the State Department for Planning. The National Treasury has five (5) technical directorates each headed by a Director General to coordinate technical functions and one (1) Administrative and Support Services directorate headed by a Principal Administrative Secretary. Each Director General is responsible for a directorate comprising a cluster of departments responsible for related policy functions. The State Department for Planning is organized into six (6) technical directorates headed by Directors and one (1) Administration Directorate. The Economic Planning Secretary coordinates the technical directorates.

In implementing its mandate, National Treasury and Planning is complemented by 38 Semi-autonomous with distinct functions that cut across and support the achievements of the Key Result areas. However, the Strategies in this Strategic Plans do not include specific strategies for the SAGAs since they have separate Strategic Plans with objectives that are explicit to their functions. The SAGAs are listed in Annex III of this Plan.