A drastic budget cut in the 2024/25 financial year places President William Ruto’s pet project on Clean Cooking Gas for boarding public institutions in jeopardy. In the recent supplementary budget that was approved by the National Assembly, the CCG project had funding cut by Sh258.3 million from Sh954.5 million, reducing the target from 75 to 50 public learning institutions.
Another landmark initiative floated by the Kenya Kwanza administration’s Bottom-Up Economic Agenda is the CCG Project, aimed at helping schools transition from biomass fuel to cleaner liquid petroleum gas. According to a report by the Energy Committee in the National Assembly, it undermines long-term goals of connecting 5000 public boarding schools to LPG.
This will be cushioned by the fact that the effect of this will be financed by PDL proceeds to the project this year, but at a reduced budget of Sh696.2 million. Construction of LPG bullets, cook stoves, and piping in the targeted schools will, however, not be funded due to the reduced funding.
It is on record that in February 2023, President Ruto directed all public boarding schools to switch to cooking gas by the year 2025. Challenges of a financial nature notwithstanding, the National Assembly has promised to support the project through the changing of various Acts attributed to it, key among them being the Energy Act of 2019 and the Miscellaneous Fees and Levies Act of 2016. The first amendment aims at criminalizing the use of firewood in schools, while the second seeks to redirect funds from the anti-adulteration levy on kerosene to support LPG supply in schools.