Uhuru, Ruto get Sh1.9bn more after bursting budget

Politics and policy

President Uhuru Kenyatta addresses the Press in Nairobi on March 27. His office was among the biggest spenders on luxury products last year. PHOTO | FILE 

By GIDEON KIARIE

In Summary

• The additional cash is contained in the Sh50.4 billion supplementary budget that Parliament approved on Wednesday.

President Uhuru Kenyatta’s office and that of his deputy, William Ruto, have been given an additional Sh1.9 billion after overshooting their recurrent budget three months to the end of the financial year.

The additional cash is contained in the Sh50.4 billion supplementary budget that Parliament approved on Wednesday.

Treasury data shows that the Presidency, which constitutes the offices of the President and his deputy, had spent Sh3.8 billion as at April 30 against Sh3.5 billion allocated for the full year to June 2015 for recurrent expenditure.

The overspending comes amid efforts by Mr Kenyatta to reduce the recurrent budget and adopt a slimmer government to free money for projects.

The Presidency’s recurrent budget is used to pay salaries of the President, his deputy and past presidents, cater for their travel, procurement or leasing of vehicles, and the State House budget, among others.

The Presidency is the only government unit that had by end of April overspent its full year budget as other ministries remained with Sh209 billion to spend in the two months to the end of the current fiscal period.

The Jubilee government early last year announced a tight austerity programme aimed at cutting spending on non-core activities.

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

READ: Uhuru, Ruto exceed OP budget amid austerity call

The government last year unveiled a new transport policy that has seen the National Police Service resort to hiring vehicles as opposed to buying, which is considered wasteful.

Mr Kenyatta’s administration is also pushing for government advertisements to go online in what is expected to reduce the publicity bill from Sh2.8 billion to Sh1 billion.

The Presidency, however, last year emerged as one of the biggest spenders on luxury products. In the year to June 2014, the two offices spent Sh838.2 million on new vehicles – nearly four times the amount spent by the police.

The Presidency has also nearly exhausted its allocation for development for the year to June, retaining only Sh4 million. This is a departure from other government entities that continue to retain unutilised billions of shilling, prompting Mr Kenyatta to place all ministries and departments on notice over poor performance.

A memo from the Presidency, dated May 5, reveals that Sh288 billion ($3 billion) is being held at the National Treasury even as Jubilee flagship projects are yet to be implemented.

Some of the delayed projects include the Sh24 billion school laptops project, Sh1.4 billion pipeline expansion from Mombasa to Nairobi, Sh328 billion standard gauge railway, multibillion-shilling electricity projects to generate 5,000 megawatts of power, and the one-million-acre Galana Irrigation Scheme.