Uhuru Kenyatta: How William Ruto is frustrating me
What you need to know:
- Kanze Dena said Uhuru was using vehicles given to him on an interim basis and had not yet received a new fleet as required by the Presidential Retirement Benefits Act.
- On international travel, she noted that the former president has undertaken several official trips since his retirement, as per his duties and responsibilities but 'only two such trips have been honoured so far'.
The silent war between former President Uhuru Kenyatta and his successor William Ruto, which dates back to Kenya's 2022 succession race, has burst into the open, with the former detailing his pains at the hands of the latter.
In a classic case of reversed roles, Mr Kenyatta— who was accused of mistreating and plotting to block Dr Ruto, then his deputy, from ascending to power— on Monday openly bewailed frustration and mistreatment by State House.
Through his spokesperson Kanze Dena-Mararo, Mr Kenyatta accused Dr Ruto of refusing to pay for his office and denying him budget for two consecutive financial years.
“In the financial year 2023/2024, which ends in a few weeks, the budget allocation to this office was 503 million shillings. The year is ending without the office having any access to this allocation. The total amount for the two years that we have not had access to is approximately 1 billion Kenya shillings,” Mrs Mararo said.
Given the uncertainty surrounding the disbursements, she said Mr Kenyatta was “waiting with bated breath” to see if the Sh579 million allocated to him will be honoured.
“The quagmire that the office is in is that the office cannot substantiate what has been used and where the monies have been used since several requests and attempts to get budget returns from the accounting officer (at State House) have fallen on deaf ears,” she said.
She noted that whereas salaries and medical insurance had been paid, no other monies spent could be accounted for by the office of the former president.
Speaking at the Uhuru Kenyatta Institute in Nairobi, where Mr Kenyatta puts up in a private office he pays for, Mrs Mararo revealed that her boss had not received new vehicles as stipulated in the Presidential Retirement Benefits Act.
The former commander-in-chief, she said, is forced to move around using the old transition fleet that he used while handing over power— vehicles that State House refused to fuel.
“The office would like this to go on record that after transition, a conversation on the purchase of vehicles as required by law commenced between the two offices,” she said.
“Identification of the vehicles was done, down to the color of the said vehicle, then the conversation froze. To date, no discussions have been revived. We do not know if the cars were purchased or not.”
Mr Kenyatta, she noted, also takes great exception to the mode of communication that State House has adopted to address his office.
“State House chooses a verbal form of communication on official issues or chooses not to respond to correspondence generated by this office. This includes the requisitions for fuel and maintenance, office operations and facilitation, pending renewal of contracts and budget returns,” she said.
She said there is need for written communication to maintain transparency and order.
The former Head of State also decried alleged harassment of his staff by State House operatives who make calls at night.
It also emerged that Mr Kenyatta has been paying the salaries of two of his senior officers— Mrs Mararo, Secretary of Communication, and Mr George Kariuki, Secretary of Administration — after State House refused to renew their contracts.
The two have not drawn government salaries since Mr Kenyatta handed over power Dr Ruto after he defeated the former president’s preferred successor Raila Odinga.
