Uhuru, Ruto offices emerge top spenders on cars

Politics and policy

President Uhuru Kenyatta (left) with his deputy William Ruto at a past event: The presidency spent close to Sh1 billion on new vehicles up to June. PHOTO | FILE 

By GERALD ANDAE, gandae@ke.nationmedia.com

In Summary

• Budget Controller says the Presidency, which includes State House, the executive office of Mr Kenyatta and Deputy president William Ruto, spent Sh838.2 million buying cars.

The offices of President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy spent nearly Sh1 billion on new vehicles in the year to June amid the call for austerity measures.

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The Presidency, which includes State House, the executive office of Mr Kenyatta and Deputy president William Ruto, spent Sh838.2 million buying cars, says the latest report from Controller of Budget.

President Kenyatta’s office and that of Mr Ruto topped the list of departments that spent the most on cars with their budget being nearly four times spent by the police under the Interior Ministry docket.

“The Presidency had the highest expenditure on purchase of motor vehicles at Sh838 million while the National Treasury spent the least at Sh640, 000,” Mrs Odhiambo says.

However, the report does not indicate the specific areas of the presidency that benefited from the purchase of the motor vehicles.

The presidency, which comprises office of the deputy president, emerged the highest spender in the purchase of motor vehicles, defying their call for austerity measures aimed at cutting the government expenditure.

President Uhuru Kenyatta early in the year issued a directive that required senior officials to cut public spending and save money his government needs to pursue its development agenda.

The Jubilee government early this year announced a tight austerity programme aiming to cut spending on non-core activities.

This was to help President Kenyatta cut public spending and save money his government needs to pursue its development agenda.

The programme, which the Controller of Budget says saved hundreds of millions of shillings this year, requires public officials to lease rather than buy vehicles and equipment, cut outdoor meetings, restrict foreign travels and use technology to reduce administrative costs. 

The spending cut plan deepened with the announcement that top public officials led by Mr Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto had offered to take a 20 per cent pay cut, a pledge that is yet to be implemented.

The government this year unveiled a new transport policy that has seen the Police Service resort to hiring of 1,200 vehicles as opposed to buying in what it considered to be massive wastage.

Sh6 billion was set aside for the exercise in 2013/14 Budget.

The idea to lease vehicles within government was initially mooted by Mr Kenyatta in the June 2010 Budget, when he served as Finance minister but it did not materialise as a result of opposition from other ministries.