Funding for the office of the Controller of Budget (COB) has suffered a Sh70 million cut in revised estimates contained in the third supplementary budget for the financial year ending June 30. This translates to a 9.97 percent reduction to Sh632.3 million, down from the Sh702.3 million approved earlier.
The drop comes at a time when COB Margaret Nyakang’o has decried underfunding to her office, which she said has been impairing operations such as monitoring and evaluation, report writing, training and budget implementation forums as well as local travel, among others.
The National Treasury tabled its third supplementary budget for the ending fiscal year last Wednesday, with just over a week left of the financial cycle. The review featured cuts to most items, though some spending areas saw increases.
The new revisions include a Sh36.4 million cut in administrative support services, as well as a Sh33.6 million reduction in county services.
Treasury documents indicate that allocation for basic salaries of permanent employees will reduce by Sh54 million to Sh173.8 million, while allowances will take a Sh16 million hit to Sh89.8 million.
Other cuts include printing and advertising expenses (down by Sh3.3 million), the purchase of specialised equipment and machinery (Sh4 million), government pensions and retirement benefits (Sh2.04 million) and other operating expenses (Sh420,000).
However, some spending areas recorded marginal gains. This include communications services and travel costs, which saw allocations rise by Sh1.5 million each, training and hospitality supplies, which registered gains of Sh3.1 million and Sh1.2 million respectively.
In March this year, Dr Nyakang'o protested against the allocation of Sh850 million to her office for the fiscal year starting July 2025, against a Sh1.63 billion request, terming it an underfunding that would see operations in the office grind to a halt.
“We have a lean budget and are only surviving because of keeping expenses at the bare minimum,” she told the Senate Finance and Committee on March 11.
“We have been allocated less than 50 percent of what we asked for. Achieving our targets will be tough,” she added.
The COB had asked for Sh182.8 million for career progression but received nothing, a fate that also befell a Sh102 million request for legislative proposals to strengthen the operations of the office.
Dr Nyakang’o had also asked for Sh50 million for system automation, Sh24 million for training and Sh15.3 million for foreign travel, all of which were declined.
“Since becoming COB six years ago, I have not travelled outside the country to learn best practices. My office has been experiencing high staff turnover, with seven workers leaving in the last six months due to poor pay,” she said in March.
