President William Ruto’s team of economic advisers has been allocated Sh204 million to buy cars, furniture and pay rent, the latest budgetary changes show.
This compares to the Sh7.9 million that had initially been allocated under the Policy Analysis and Research vote in the Executive Office of the President by the administration of former President Uhuru Kenyatta before he left office in September.
The team, whose members include economist David Ndii, is one of the cogs in President Ruto’s administration which is keen to help the economy to recover from the shocks of the Covid-19 pandemic, drought and the war in Ukraine.
Dr Ndii was in October last year picked for the position of Chairperson of the President's Council of Economic Advisors (CEA), in an appointment that also saw former Treasury Principal Secretary Kamau Thugge make a return to government after being named the Senior Advisor and Head of Fiscal Affairs and Budget Policy in the office of the President.
Other appointees included Dr Augustine Cheruiyot who is the Senior Advisor and Head of the Economic Transformation Secretariat.
Mohammed Hassan and Dr Nancy Laibuni are members and associate members of the Dr Ndii-led CEA, respectively.
Over 45 percent of the allocation to this department, or Sh92 million, will be used for the purchase of new cars for the new officials that fall under the office of the President.
The previous team at the National Treasury led by Ukur Yatani had not allocated any funds for the purchase of vehicles.
The budget for vehicle maintenance for this department based at State House also rose by Sh10 million from a paltry Sh328,700 that had initially been set aside.
These economic advisors have also been awarded Sh20 million for the purchase of furniture, as the new settle down having been given a target of generating two policy advisory reports for the head of state in the current financial year ending June 2023.
There is a Sh18.6 million for the purchase of specialised plant, equipment and machinery, which had not initially been catered for.
For rentals, the team was given a fresh Sh9 million, an indicator that the team will be setting up new offices.
For domestic travel, these economic advisors were given Sh15 million, up from Sh1.1 million.
