Whether or not national government ministries are in a similar state, this is a good time to ponder how much longer and further Kenya can go when taxes “chase” spending rather than the other way round.

National government (recurrent and development) costs us Sh1.89 trillion, which leaves Sh60 billion of total receipts for everything else.

Worryingly, our tax collections can’t pay for national government, ignoring counties.

That would leaves Sh600 billion in taxes to run our national and county governments.

In sum, the budget balances by rolling over Sh442 billion in debt and borrowing another Sh804 billion to fund a Sh3.23 trillion government that raises Sh1.62 trillion in taxes, collects Sh260 billion in government services we still have to pay for, and fundraises Sh57 billion in grants that Kenya doesn’t have to repay.