The Treasury has scrapped budget lines for the offices of the First Lady Rachael Ruto and Second Lady Dorcas Gachagua, saving the taxpayer a combined expenditure of Sh1.25 billion in the current financial year.
President William Ruto’s spouse had been allocated Sh696.6 million, a 17.3 percent increase from last year’s budgetary allocation of Sh593.9 million.
The office of the spouse of the Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has lost the entire budget of Sh557.6 million through the Supplementary Budget 1 which is currently before Parliament for scrutiny approval.
The budget cuts follow President Ruto’s promise to scrap budgets allocated to offices of First Lady, and that of Second Lady following the deadly anti-Finance Bill, 2024 and anti-government protests spearheaded by young Kenyans.
The Treasury has effected budget cuts across the national government to plug a Sh346 billion hole occasioned by the now abandoned controversial Finance Bill 2024.
Dr Ruto refused to assent to the Bill and fired it back to the National Assembly with a recommendation to delete the entire 65 clauses of the proposed tax law.
In rejecting the Bill, President Ruto directed the Treasury to effect austerity measures including the removal of budgets for the offices of the First Lady and the Second Lady.
“'Budget lines providing for the operations of the offices of the First Lady, the spouses of the Deputy President, and the Prime Cabinet Secretary shall be removed,'' President Ruto said in an address to the nation following unprecedented public protests.
The office of the First Lady has been in existence with successive holders dedicating their time to champion different charitable courses.
Former First Lady Margaret Kenyatta dedicated her time to maternal healthcare through her Beyond Zero Campaign.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua with wife Pastor Dorcas Rigathi during a church service in Kiamariga, Nyeri County on July 7, 2024.
Photo credit: DPCS
The First Lady has been focusing her energies on environment and climate action, financial inclusion and women empowerment.
Ms Ruto is also the founder and patron of Mama Doing Good and a champion of faith diplomacy, mental health and wellness.
The First Lady had targeted to mentor and train 90,000 women in financial inclusion by the end of July 2025
The Second Lardy on the other hand has dedicated her time to empowering the boy child and has a target of identifying and screening 12,000 boys for drugs and substance abuse in the year to June 2025. Ms Gachagua also targets to train 2,400 and mentor another 3,000.
With the Treasury scrapping both First Lady and Second Lady budgets for the financial year 2024/25, all the programmes will now be in limbo.
The Treasury has also effected massive budget cuts on the budget of State House budget which has been reduced from Sh9.5 billion to Sh4.3 billion.
The budget for the office of the President, where the budget of the First Lady office is based, has been reduced from Sh5.4 billion to Sh3.6 billion.
The Deputy President budget, which included that of the office of the Second Lady, has been scaled down by Sh2.2 billion or 49 percent from Sh4.9 billion to Sh2.7 billion.
“The gross approved estimates for office of the Deputy President in the financial year 2024/25 amounts to Sh4.9 billion comprising Sh4.6 billion and Sh320.4 million for current and capital expenditures respectively,” the Treasury said in budget documents.
“The approved estimates have been revised from Sh4.9 billion to Sh2.7 billion under the financial year 2024/25 Supplementary Estimates No. 1, reflecting a net decrease of Sh2.2 billion on account of rationalisation of expenditures.”
The office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi budget has been reduced from Sh1.14 billion to Sh.720 million, a reduction of Sh420 million.
