The Education, Energy and Roads Ministries are the biggest casualties in the mini-budget that has substantially slashed spending in response to pressure on President William Ruto to implement austerity measures and clamp down on wastage of public resources.
The Treasury has effected deep cuts on teacher resources management — Sh5 billion for primary and Sh5 billion for secondary schools — electricity distribution, and road maintenance.
The Supplementary Budget 1 for 2024/25 tabled in Parliament shows that the Education Ministry budget has been cut by Sh30 billion, Energy (18.5 billion) and Roads (Sh14 billion).
The budget cuts, which affected mainly development spending in various ministries, will see the current budget of Sh3.92 trillion reduced by Sh156.4 billion.
The budget cuts are in line with Dr Ruto's directive to the National Treasury to prepare a Supplementary Budget to cut national government expenditure by Sh346 billion following the deadly anti-Finance Bill, 2024 and anti-government protests spearheaded by young Kenyans of the Generation Zoomer (Gen Z).
In an address to the nation following the protests by the Generation Z, Dr Ruto directed budget cuts on non-essential expenditures in his office, including travel, hospitality, and the purchase of motor vehicles to curb wastage of funds and plug a Sh346 billion hole occasioned by the now abandoned controversial Finance Bill 2024.
The Treasury has since slashed the budget for the State House by Sh5.2 billion, the Executive office of the President has lost Sh1.86 billion, and the office of the Deputy President (Sh2.2 billion).
“The gross approved estimates for the Executive Office of the President in the financial year 2024/25 amounts to Sh5.4 billion comprising Sh4.2 billion and Sh1.2 billion for current and capital expenditures respectively,” the Treasury said.
“The Approved Estimates have been revised from KSh.5.4 billion to KSh.3.6 billion under the financial year 2024/25 Supplementary Estimates No.1, reflecting a decrease of Sh1.8 billion on account of rationalisation of expenditures.”
The State House budget has been cut from Sh9.5 billion to Sh4.3 billion, office of the President has been reduced from Sh5.4 billion to Sh3.6 billion, while Deputy President budget has been scaled down by Sh2.2 billion or 49 percent from Sh4.9 billion to Sh2.7 billion.
The office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary budget has been reduced from Sh1.14 billion to Sh.720 million, a reduction of Sh420 million.
Out of the Sh30 billion budget reduction at the Ministry of Education, the Teachers Service Commission lost Sh10 billion, Basic Education had a reduction of Sh14.9 billion and Higher Education had a cut of Sh4.99 billion.
The Basic Education budget reduction comprises Primary Education (Sh6.8 billion), and Secondary Education (Sh8 billion).
“The approved estimates for the Teachers Service Commission during the financial year 2024/25 have been adjusted from Sh358.2 billion to Sh347.9 billion under Supplementary Estimates No.I.
“This reflects a decrease of Sh10.3 billion and Sh47 million under current and capital expenditures respectively due to rationalistion of the budget,” the Treasury documents said.
At the Energy ministry which lost a total of Sh18.5 billion, the Treasury slashed Sh17.9 billion meant for power transmission and distribution and Sh529 million for power generation.
The Roads ministry lost Sh14 billion after its current budget was reduced from Sh198.9 billion to Sh184.8 billion.
The National Treasury lost Sh12.7 billion out of which Sh8 billion was earmarked for the State Department for the Treasury and Sh4 7 billion for the State Department for Economic Planning.
Other ministries that have faced massive budget cuts for the year ending June 2025 are Interior and Coordination of National Government (Sh8.6 billion), the State Departments for Medical Services (Sh6.9 billion), Lands and Physical Planning (Sh5 billion), Irrigation (Sh3.7 billion), Wildlife (Sh3.7 billion), Transport (Sh3.3 billion), TVET (Sh3.2 billion),
The National Police Service lost Sh2.7 billion, Blue Economy (Sh2.7 billion), Micro and Small Enterprises (Sh2.5 billion), Housing (Sh2.4 billion), ICT (Sh2.4 billion), Industry (Sh2 billion), Wildlife (Sh1.95 billion), Investments (Sh1.8 billion), Public Works (Sh1.2 billion), Correctional Services (Sh1.2 billion), and Public Service (Sh1 billion).
The Treasury also slashed the budget of Parliament by Sh3.7 billion while the Judiciary lost Sh1.3 billion.
The National Assembly budget has been reduced by Sh1.8 billion from Sh26.8 billion to Sh24.9 billion, the Senate (Sh544.3 million), Parliamentary Joint Services (Sh1.3 billion) and Parliamentary Service Commission (Sh54 million).
At the Judiciary, the budget for the Judicial Service Commission has been cut from Sh902.9 million to Sh660.1 million.
