COB Margaret Nyakang’o flags State House budget spending
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Controller of Budget (COB) Margaret Nyakang'o flags the State House and 34 government departments on their budget allocation spending
Controller of Budget (COB) Margaret Nyakang’o flags the State House and 34 government departments on their budget allocation spending.
Controller of Budget (COB) Margaret Nyakang’o has rejected a KSh 1.1 billion request by the State House to cater to the construction of a modern presidential dais.
Out of the amount, KSh 700 million would have gone towards the construction of the dais at the State House gardens, while the remaining KSh 400 million would have been used to purchase more motor vehicles.
In total, the CoB rejected requests amounting to KSh 58.4 billion received from 23 ministries under Article 223 of the Constitution.
In her latest report for the last nine months, dated May 2024, Nyakang’o only approved requests amounting to KSh 8.2 billion, despite the National Treasury requesting spending of KSh 66.7 billion to fund various activities.
Nyakang’o acknowledged the law’s provision for such requests and told the Cabinet Secretary, National Treasury, to obtain Parliament’s consent within two months of the first withdrawal of the money.
Article 223 of the Constitution allows MDAs to access additional funding during the budget implementation process if the amount appropriated for any purpose under the Appropriation Act is insufficient or if a need has arisen for expenditure for a purpose for which no amount has been claimed by that Act, or if money has been withdrawn from the Contingencies Fund.
In addition, Nyakang’o raised an alarm over the increase in the government’s expenditure budget for foreign and domestic travel.
In her National Government Budget Implementation Review Report covering the first nine months of the 2023/2024 financial year, Nyakang’o revealed that Ksh18.18 billion had been used on travel.
This was an increase from the figures recorded the previous year despite President William Ruto’s directive announcing the intention to cut down on travel costs.
On the other hand, she noted that some government institutions such as State House failed to submit reports detailing specifics for delegations that travelled abroad during the period under review.
“The report notes growth in travel expenditure by MDAs compared to a similar period in FY 2022/23. However, the Controller of Budget requested MDAs to submit information on foreign travel to enable review and analysis of compliance with government directives on foreign travel but some MDAs didn’t submit,” read the report in part.
The other government institutions that failed to submit their reports on foreign travel were the Office of the Deputy President, the Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary, the State Law Office, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP).
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The State Departments for; Correctional Services, Foreign Affairs, Basic Education, National Treasury, Medical Services, Shipping and Maritime Affairs, ICT, Broadcasting and Telecommunications, Sports, Youth Affairs and the Arts, Livestock Development, Industry, Investment Promotion, and Labour were also listed in the non-compliance list.
Other State Departments were; Petroleum, Public Service, and EAC.
Nyakang’o also listed the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, The National Land Commission, the Parliamentary Service Commission, The National Assembly, the Parliamentary Joint Services, the Senate, the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), the Commission on Revenue Allocation and the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).
The other two offices were the Auditor General and the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA).
“In the period under review, the total expenditure on travel by MDAs was Ksh18.18 billion comprising Ksh12.33 billion and Ksh5.85 billion for domestic and foreign travel respectively.
“This recorded a 29.2 percent growth (Ksh4.11 billion consisting of Ksh2.94 billion (31.3 percent) and Ksh1.17 billion (25.1 percent) for domestic and foreign travel respectively) compared to a similar period FY 2022/23,” read the report in part.
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