Where is the austerity? President Ruto spends three times more than Uhuru on luxury
EAC-led Nairobi Peace Process Facilitator Uhuru Kenyatta, Burundi President Évariste Ndayishimiye and President William Ruto ahead of the official opening of the Third Inter-Congolese Consultations of the Nairobi Peace Process at Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi on November 28, 2022.
President William Ruto has outspent his predecessor, Uhuru Kenyatta, on luxury spending by thrice the amount, overseeing a Presidency that has ballooned spending on travel, hospitality and vehicles despite hard economic times.
This has set the stage for his entire government to grow its appetite for luxury spending, splashing Sh14 billion on travel, Sh6 billion on hospitality and Sh3.3 billion on fuel and maintenance of vehicles.
The Sh14 billion spending on travel is Sh1.6 billion more than the Sh12.4 billion spent during a similar period last year and is the highest over the past five years, reflecting an appetite by officials in the new government to globe-trot in their popularised “strategic tours”, even as they lead a government struggling to raise revenues and deteriorating public services.
This also comes at a time when the President continues to insist on the need for austerity measures, and when many citizens are burdened by a high cost of living.
Between October 2022 and March 2023 – a period when President Ruto has been in charge of the country – the latest details by the Controller of Budget (COB) show that the Executive Office of the President spent a total of Sh2.369 billion on travel, hospitality, fuel and maintenance of motor vehicles alone. During a similar period last year, former President Kenyatta’s office spent Sh852.5 million on the items.
A comparison of the spending by President Ruto and his predecessor shows that the current Presidency has shown much extravagance, spending 2.78 times what the previous Presidency spent between October 2021 and March 2022.
With a spending of Sh88.69 million on his foreign trips during the six months, President Ruto outspent Mr Kenyatta, who spent Sh16.7 million on the out-of-country travels, by five times.
The spending has been reflected across the new government, where foreign trips by national government officials cost the taxpayer Sh4.67 billion between July 2022 and March this year, against a spending of Sh3.95 billion on the item during a similar period last year.
“The total expenditure by MDAs was Sh14.07 billion comprising Sh9.39 billion for domestic travel and Sh4.68 billion for foreign travel. The National Assembly recorded the highest domestic travel at Sh2.85 billion while Foreign Affairs recorded the most increased foreign travel at Sh1.43 billion,” the COB stated in the report.
President Ruto’s office spent Sh453 million on his tours within the country, about 2.2 times the Sh201.66 million that Mr Kenyatta spent on domestic travels. Total spending on travel by the Presidency during the six months to March crossed the Sh541 million mark and was 2.5 times the Sh218 million spent by Mr Kenyatta during a similar period last year.
The many trips within the country have seen the Executive Office of the President also expend heavy resources on the maintenance of vehicles and fuel, with a spending of Sh328.7 million on the items within the six months.
Former President Kenyatta spent Sh105.7 million on the maintenance of motor vehicles during a similar period last year, and the COB did not record a spending on fuel during the six months. This makes Ruto’s spending on the items more than three times what Mr Kenyatta spent.
President William Ruto with his Deputy Rigathi Gachagua at JKIA when he left for London, United Kingdom to attend Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s burial. President Ruto has outspent his predecessor, Uhuru Kenyatta, on luxury spending by thrice the amount, overseeing a Presidency that has ballooned spending on travel, hospitality and vehicles despite hard economic times.
Overall, in the nine months to March, the government spent Sh3.3 billion on the maintenance of motor vehicles and fuel, compared to Sh1.15 billion the previous government spent during a similar period last year.
“The total expenditure by MDAs on fuel oil and lubricants was Sh1.97 billion, State Department for Interior and Citizen Services recorded the highest at Sh947.57 million. On routine maintenance of motor vehicles, the total expenditure by MDAs was Sh1.36 billion where the State Department for Interior and Citizen Services recorded the highest at Sh589.72 million,” the COB observed.
Hospitality
And constantly hosting delegations from political, religious and diplomatic corps at the State House, Nairobi, the events have not been without a dent on the taxpayer money, since the Executive Office of the President spent Sh1.49 billion on hospitality alone, over the six months to March.
This is equivalent to Sh250 million on hospitality monthly and is about 2.8 times the Sh528 million former President Kenyatta spent over the six months to March.
Overall, between July and March, the national government spent Sh6.16 billion on hospitality, twice the Sh3 billion spent during a similar period last year.
Overseeing the 2022 General Election, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) incurred nearly a third of the Sh6.16 billion hospitality spending (Sh1.95 billion).
Between July 2022 and March 2023, the government spent a total of Sh23.56 billion on travel, hospitality, fuel and maintenance of motor vehicles, against Sh16.68 billion spent on the items over a similar period ending March 2022.
This means that spending on the items that have no direct benefit to citizens, and which are mainly utilised by public officials to earn allowances rose by Sh6.9 billion this year (or 41 per cent).
