Uhuru, Ruto get Sh4bn after bursting budget

Politics and policy

1. 

President Uhuru Kenyatta (left) with his deputy William Ruto at a past event. PHOTO | FILE 

By KIARIE NJOROGE, gkiarie@ke.nationmedia.com

In Summary

• The additional cash was released through the two supplementary budgets, which were tabled in Parliament this month, in two tranches of Sh2.17 billion and Sh2.1 billion.
• The overspending comes amid efforts by Mr Kenyatta to reduce the recurrent budget and adopt a leaner government to free money for projects.

President Uhuru Kenyatta’s office and that of his deputy, William Ruto have received an additional Sh4.1 billion after overshooting their budget in the current financial year amid calls for austerity.

The additional cash was released through the two supplementary budgets, which were tabled in Parliament this month, in two tranches of Sh2.17 billion and Sh2.1 billion.

The Presidency, which constitutes the offices of the President and his deputy, had spent Sh5.6 billion as at June 8 against Sh4.3 billion allocated for the full year to June 2015.

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

A huge chunk of the Presidency’s budget is used to pay salaries of the President, his deputy and past presidents, cater for their travel, hospitality, and the State House budget, among others.

Data from the Controller of Budget show that the Presidency spent Sh2 billion on salaries, travel and hospitality or 44 per cent of the Sh4.5 billion the ministry had consumed in the nine months of the financial year to June.

The Presidency and the Tourism ministry are the only government units that had by June 8 overspent their yearly budgets. The Jubilee government early last year announced a tight austerity programme aimed at cutting spending on non-core activities but latest reports paint a picture of extravagance.

The Presidency, for example, spent Sh1.1 billion on travel and hospitality in the nine months to March; a 133 per cent rise over the Sh472 million spent in a similar period in 2013/14.

READ: Uhuru, Ruto exceed Sh3.5bn OP budget amid austerity call

The Presidency’s expenditure on hospitality, conferences and catering nearly tripled from Sh225 million to Sh700 million. Its travel budget rose from Sh246 million to Sh400 million.

The jump comes on the back of recent criticism of the huge delegations that accompany the President on numerous foreign trips.

Mr Kenyatta has made at least 24 foreign trips in the past one year, underlining his frequent-flier status that has turned the spotlight on costs to taxpayers.

The ministry of Foreign Affairs has since released a list of all the trips made by the President and outlined what is says are the accruing benefits. It, however, did not indicate how much was spent on each trip.

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

Mr Kenyatta’s administration is also pushing for government advertisements to go online in a move that has cut the publicity bill from Sh1.3 billion to Sh537.7 billion.