Zero-based budgeting: How government avoided new taxes

CS John Mbadi leaves Treasury for Budget presentation in the National Assembly, June 12, 2025. /EZEKIEL AMING'A

For the first time in Kenya’s history, every government ministry, department, and agency was required to justify every budget item from scratch in the 2025-26 financial year—a radical shift designed to curb unrealistic projections and align spending with actual national priorities.

The zero-based budgeting (ZBB) approach, announced by Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi on Thursday during budget presentation in the National Assembly, marks a dramatic departure from the incremental budgeting of previous years, where past allocations often dictated future spending regardless of changing needs or effectiveness.