Taxpayers will spend Sh795 million on sprucing up State House Nairobi in the largest upgrade of the 117-year-old building.
Estimates from the supplementary budget show the cost of renovation has been increased by Sh600 million from the initial Sh195.4 million.
Architects had reportedly warned that parts of the expansive colonial structure had become unfit for habitation and recommended the construction of a new building, which would have gobbled up billions of shillings.
President William Ruto is expected to work away from the official residence in Nairobi during the renovations. About Sh620 million will be spent on the construction and Sh149.02 million for the refurbishment of existing buildings.
A further Sh26.4 million has been set aside for the purchase of specialised plant, equipment and machinery, Treasury documents show.
This will increase the budget for refurbishment of State Houses, including the Mombasa facility and State lodges, to Sh1.3 billion from an estimated Sh900 million.
The upgrades come in a period when the State has ordered all ministries and State departments to cut 10 percent of their operational budgets for the fiscal year ending June.
Kenya is facing deepening economic challenges due to growing debt repayments, rising interest rates and high taxes.
“The approved estimates have been revised under the 2023/24 supplementary estimates No.1, reflecting an increase on account of additional funding to cater for personal emolument, enhanced operations and maintenance expenses, refurbishment of buildings and other civil works,” the Treasury notes in the 2023/24 first supplementary budget books.
The upgrade of State House Nairobi was set for the last financial year when it had a new occupant after President Ruto came to power after the August 9, 2022 General Election.
But a biting cash crunch delayed the facelift.
Dr Ruto, who was elected on a platform of helping the poor, has had a rough ride in the slightly over a year of his term due to growing government debt repayments, revenue collection shortfalls and persistently high prices of basic commodities.
To shore up revenue, his administration introduced a raft of tax increases including doubling fuel tax to 16 percent and 1.5 percent housing levy on workers’ monthly pay, angering citizens and the opposition.
Built in 1907, State House Nairobi, formerly known as Government House, is an expression of European Style and features a protruding entrance with a triangular top which is held up by columns.
It was designed by Sir Herbert Baker.
Design notes available online show the residency was designed around a large columned patio on an old site that retained existing houses as a servants’ wing.
The building previously served as the official residence of the Governor of the British East Africa Protectorate when Kenya was a British colony but became the residence of the founding president Mzee Jomo Kenyatta at independence.
State House Nairobi is nicknamed ‘the house on the hill’, to mirror its topography in contrast with the rest of the Nairobi Capital.
Other State Houses and lodges across the country will also get a facelift by June albeit at a lower scale following expenditure cuts under the recent supplementary budget.
The cost of refurbishing the Eldoret State Lodge, for instance, dropped to Sh30 million from a budgeted Sh70 million in June last year while renovation costs of State House Mombasa are down by Sh80 million to Sh302 million.
Moreover, the Treasury slashed renovation costs to the rehabilitation of State House Nakuru, Kisumu State Lodge, Kakamega State Lodge and Kisii State Lodge by a cumulative Sh90 million.
The cost of rehabilitating State House Sagana has remained unchanged at Sh27 million while Sh5 million in expenditures set aside for the rehabilitation of the Mtito Andei State Lodge have been scrapped.
The State lodges have been rarely used by former Presidents--Uhuru Kenyatta and Mwai Kibaki—but Dr Ruto has occasionally held Cabinet meetings in the Eldoret and Kisumu buildings.
According to the Treasury, the State House plays the role of facilitation to the President in providing leadership, coordination, oversight of government and promoting good governance for sustainable socio-economic development.
State House, from the last budget has had a specific budget, separate to that of the Office of the President where recurrent expenditures usually cater for the coordination of State House functions, salaries, the acquisition of non-financial assets and the administration of statutory benefits to retired presidents and vice-presidents.
