Research Papers

Gender responsive budgeting involves analysing the impact of the budget on men and women, boys and girls, and on different groups of men and women (Budlender and Sharp 1998); it is not about casting a separate budget for men and women. The revenue handles used to raise taxes and the expenditure pattern can and often do have different impacts on women and men, boys and girls. Furthermore, the macroeconomic framework underpinning the budget determines the incentive structure in the economy, consumption, savings and investment propensities and the structure of production in the economy. The incentives thus determine the kinds of jobs that are created (or lost through retrenchment).

During the last two decades, the fiscal policy in Kenya has remained the most challenging and complex area of macroeconomic management characterized by persistent budget deficits, rising debt burden, persistent low economic growth rates, high interest and inflation rates. In addition, public finance utilization and management has been poor allegedly due to among other factors, high level of corruption; poor accountability; improper procurement and tendering; over-invoicing; wasteful expenditure; lack of discipline and proper work ethics in the public sector; and lack of openness in the budget process (CGD, 2001).

Kenya, like many other countries, is increasingly recognizing that an efficient telecommunications sector is a fundamental prerequisite for national competitiveness in the emerging global information society. This is the context in which Kenya’s telecommunications policy and regulation system operates.

Various national, regional and international conventions and documentation have emphasised that enabling the population, regardless of gender to actively participate in social and economic wellbeing is critical for long-term and sustainable social, political and economic development of any society.