The government has struggled to enforce brutal cuts in recurrent expenditure that President William Ruto announced at the beginning of the financial year in the wake of the withdrawal of Finance Bill 2024 after deadly youth-led opposition.
The first budget review last July signalled a Sh40.51 billion reduction in recurrent expenditures such as operations, maintenance, and administration expenses.
However, subsequent budgetary reviews in February and this month (under consideration by Parliament) have seen allocations increase by nearly Sh176.45 billion, negating spending cuts pledged by Dr Ruto following the collapse of a plan for new and higher taxes.
“While it could be prudent to reduce expenditures by the amount equivalent to the anticipated revenue shortfall of Sh344.3 billion, this was not tenable given the delicate balance between austerity measures and cushioning the livelihoods of the people and the economy,” read a brief in the Supplementary Appropriations Bill 2024.
“In this regard, the Bill seeks to create a balance by reducing recurrent expenditure while safeguarding critical essential expenditure in the Agriculture, Health, and Education sectors, among others.”
The administration has, nonetheless, failed to contain spiralling recurrent expenditures, with additional allocations going towards critical security operations by agencies such as the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and the National Police Service.
Budget books, awaiting approval in the National Assembly, will take the total recurrent expenditure plan for the current year ending this month to nearly Sh1.77 trillion.
This is Sh176.45 billion more than Sh1.59 trillion in the first Supplementary Appropriations Bill signed into law last August and Sh135.94 billion more than original estimates which were to be funded by increased taxation measures.
The National Treasury, which is also in charge of leasing vehicles for security agencies such as the police, has seen its estimates increase by Sh15.24 billion since the first review last August to Sh81.97 billion in proposals before the National Assembly before the year ends in a week.
The recurrent budget for NIS has since August been increased by 12.30 billion to Sh58.65 billion, Internal Security and National Administration department’s by Sh8.11 billion to Sh35.93 billion, State House’s by Sh7.36 billion to Sh11.67 billion, while Police’s by Sh7.15 billion to Sh115.79 billion.
The recurrent estimates for the State House have increased by 170.82 percent from Sh4.31 billion last August. This is largely on account of “coordination of State House functions” whose expenses are projected at Sh11.53 billion from Sh3.77 billion despite the scrapping of the budget for the office of the First Lady.
However, recurrent cost estimates for the Government advisory services, which falls under the Executive Office of the President, have dropped 6.37 percent to Sh1.06 billion from Sh1.13 billion last August.
Under the budget measures announced by Dr Ruto at the beginning of the current fiscal year in July, the budget for the offices of the First and Second Ladies were scrapped as well as confidential budgets for State House and all public offices.
The President also suspended the purchase of new high-end cars, whose cost can top Sh30 million per unit, for the first six months, halved government advisers, and ordered the retirement of public servants on attainment of age 60.
These were among the raft of measures announced by Dr Ruto at State House, Nairobi, on July 5 last year following youth-led protests against increased tax measures, which saw the rare climb down to drop the Finance Bill, 2024, which was rejected by most Kenyans as punitive.
Earlier austerities had targeted non-essential expenditures such as printing, advertising, travel, communication supplies and services, training, hospitality, furniture, refurbishment, and vehicle purchase as well as research and feasibility studies for public offices.
The Ruto administration has, however, struggled to cut the number of government advisors attached to the presidency. For example, the administration failed to slash members of the Presidential Council of Economic Advisors, with the think-tank at the State House being expanded instead.
Advisers who have since joined the Executive Office of the President include former Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria and former Principal Secretary Edward Kisiang’ani as well as Joe Ager and Silvester Kasuku who are allies of ODM leader Raila Odinga.
The government has also struggled to enforce the directive on public servants to retire at the age of 60, with Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja and Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Mohammed Amin reportedly getting two-year contracts.
