Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi’s push for Sh280 million to refurbish his office has encountered headwinds in Parliament, with MPs questioning the timing, specifically at a time of agitations for austerity measures in government.
At a meeting with the National Assembly Committee on Administration and Internal Security on the supplementary estimates I for the 2025/26 fiscal year, Mr Joash Dache, the Principal Administrative Secretary in the Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary (OPCS), cited the advice of the National Intelligence Service.
Mr Joash Dache, the Principal Administrative Secretary in the Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary
Photo credit: Dennis Onsongo| Nation Meda Group
The request came after the National Assembly Committee on Budget and Appropriations (BAC) directed that no further funding should be provided to the OPCS in its recommendations on the 2026 Budget Policy Statement (BPS).
BAC blocked the enhanced refurbishment funding, citing fiscal austerity even as it questioned the rationale of investing heavily in a rented facility.
But even as BAC made the recommendation, Mr Dache told the Administration and Internal Security Committee, chaired by Narok West MP Gabriel Tongoyo, that the leased facility at Kenya Railways headquarters is in a bad shape and that the OPCS, requires the funding to accord it the status it deserves.
“We inherited a condemned building. If you are a landlord or a landlady, you are supposed to ensure that your facility is habitable,” said Mr Dache.
He added, “We have been requesting the Sh280 million to enhance the security of the building as indicated in the NIS report.
However, Mr Dache, the former CEO of the Kenya Law Reform Commission, did not provide the NIS report to the committee to beef up the request, as MPs accused the OPCS of abusing the expenditures under supplementary budget requirements.
“This is overuse of the supplementary budget to address matters that can be handled in the main budget,” said Homa Bay Town MP Peter Kaluma, noting that if approved, it will enhance the OPCS budget by over 70 per cent, with Saku MP Dido Rasso also weighing in.
“How does it become an emergency to be factored by the taxpayer?” Posed the Saku legislator, adding, “for me, who understands supplementary budget, this does not qualify for emergency expenditure.”
In the next financial year- 2026/27- the OPCS proposes a Sh827 million allocation to be used for recurrent expenditures. No allocations for the capital expenditures have been allocated a budget.
The OPCS has spent a cumulative Sh363 million on renovations alone since 2023, when Mr Mudavadi, also the Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, occupied it.
The OPCS had requested the refurbishment budget in the 2026 BPS but was declined by BAC in its report to the House, which was adopted early this month.
Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Musalia Mudavadi.
“No further public funds be provided for the renovation, partitioning, or structural modification of leased premises occupied by the Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary,” BAC said in its report, adding, “henceforth, the National Treasury should cease financing such expenditures.”
The Administration and Internal Security committee had, in its report on the 2026 BPS, noted that the proposed ceiling in the OPCS “appears to be aimed at restoring funding for compensation, rent, contracted services, and general administration, which had been left unfunded.”
However, the committee observed that the significant upward adjustment “also signals weaknesses in initial budget structuring and inter-vote resource alignment, raising concerns about planning accuracy and fiscal discipline within the executive.”
The mandate of the OPCS is defined by the Executive Order No. 1 of 2023 and Executive Order No. 2 of 2023. The office is situated within the presidency and is tasked with ensuring the effective functioning of government.
Its core functions include assisting the President and Deputy President in coordinating and supervising government Ministries and State Departments, chairs the committee on national legislative agenda, and, along with the Ministry of Interior, oversees the implementation of government projects and policies.
The others include leading committees of Principal Secretaries for monitoring and evaluating government projects leading foreign policy as head of the Foreign Service, and promoting "whole-of-government" approaches for public sector efficiency.
