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Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi.
Parliament has rejected additional funding for the renovation, partitioning and any structural modification of leased premises occupied by Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, effectively halting the unending refurbishment of offices at Kenya Railways Headquarters in Nairobi.
The funding freeze comes barely a week after it emerged that the State House budget for the 2025/26 financial year had doubled to Sh16.998 billion due to additional allocations under Article 223 of the Constitution.
Mr Mudavadi’s office had requested Sh1.15 billion in extra funding to cover coordination and supervision services, administrative support and refurbishment of offices at the Kenya Railways premises.
Documents tabled in Parliament show that the office pays an annual rent of Sh106 million and has spent a cumulative Sh363 million on renovations since 2023.
The National Assembly last week adopted the recommendations of the Budget and Appropriations Committee (BAC), which noted that while the office justified the expenditure on the grounds that the premises were dilapidated and required upgrades for security, ICT infrastructure and operational suitability, it represented a substantial capital investment in leased property.
Chairperson of the National Assembly's Budget and Appropriations Committee and Alego Usonga MP Samuel Atandi.
The committee, chaired by Alego Usonga MP Samuel Atandi, capped the recurrent budget for the office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary at Sh827.6 million for the 2026/27 financial year, with zero allocation for development.
“That 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. Henceforth, the National Treasury should cease financing such expenditure,” Mr Atandi said in his report to the House.
The committee made the finding following a review by the Administration and Internal Security Committee, which noted that the proposed budget ceiling appeared aimed at restoring funding for compensation, rent, contracted services and general administration, which had been left unfunded in the 2026/27 Budget Policy Statement (BPS).
“However, the committee observed that the significant upward adjustment signals weaknesses in initial budget structuring and inter-vote resource alignment, raising concerns about planning accuracy and fiscal discipline within the Executive,” Mr Atandi added.
The committee also rejected a total of Sh623.37 billion in additional funding requests by various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), citing constrained fiscal space.
The Treasury allocated Sh556.6 million to Mr Mudavadi’s office in the current financial year and projected an increase to Sh827.6 million, a 132 percent rise, in the 2026/27 BPS.
Projections indicate the office’s budget will rise further to Sh850.9 million in 2027/28 and Sh875.8 million in 2028/29.
Mr Mudavadi’s office had informed the Administration and Internal Security Committee, chaired by Narok West MP Gabriel Tongoyo that its total resource requirement for 2026/27 amounts to Sh1.961 billion, leaving a shortfall of about Sh1.133 billion.
The gap mainly affects coordination and supervision services, administrative support and office refurbishment at Kenya Railways Headquarters.
“The office argued that underfunding coordination functions risks systemic inefficiencies, cost overruns, duplication, and weakened oversight across government,” the report stated.
In submissions to the committee, the Prime Cabinet Secretary’s office outlined its mandate as assisting the President and Deputy President in coordinating Ministries and State Departments, presiding over the Principal Secretaries’ Committee and leading Kenya’s Foreign Service.
It also listed coordinating the government legislative agenda, strengthening performance management and institutionalising the Whole-of-Government and Open Government approaches.
The funding freeze on Mr Mudavadi’s office renovations comes amid generous allocations to President William Ruto’s office, whose budget has doubled from Sh8.42 billion to Sh16.998 billion in the 2025/26 financial year.
The additional allocations were made under Article 223, which allows the Treasury to spend monies not allocated by the National Assembly and seek regularisation within two months.
Government data indicates that over the past 13 years, State House has received Sh31.75 billion above its original budgets, with this year’s extra allocation marking a 98.1 percent increase, the largest in absolute terms.
The supplementary budget estimates for 2025/26 presented to Parliament show that the State House budget shot up from Sh8.42 billion to Sh16.998 billion, with Sh16.1 billion allocated to recurrent expenditure, while development stagnated at Sh894.91 million.
Disbursements under Article 223 included Sh4.5 billion requested in September 2025, with payments made on multiple dates between December 2025 and February 2026.
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