Ruto requests Sh2 billion allocation in the upcoming budget for international engagements
If Parliament approves the budget proposals for the fiscal year beginning on July 1, taxpayers will pay Sh2 billion to fund President William Ruto’s international travel.
Instead of the required Sh2 billion, the National Treasury has allocated Sh700 million for President Ruto’s state visits.
President Ruto and his deputy, Rigathi Gachagua, recently blew through their annual budgets in seven months, despite austerity measures intended to reverse the trend of borrowing to fund government operations.
In addition, the Budget and Appropriations committee of the National Assembly has allocated Sh301 million against a Sh2 billion request for state protocol and utilities, which includes the United Nations General Assembly (Sh250 million), the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (Sh100 million), the African Union (Sh150 million), the East African Community and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (both Sh150 million), as well as administrative activities such as cleaning, transportation, and security.
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According to official data, the Executive Office of the President spent Sh9.09 billion through January, compared to the initial estimate of Sh8.64 billion for the entire year.
This represents an overspending of Sh450,11 million, or 5.21 percent of the original budget for the year.
In a report to the House of Representatives, the Committee on Defence, Intelligence, and Foreign Relations stated, “The ministry requires an annual budget allocation of Sh2 billion to cover outbound state visits.”
After the Treasury only allocated Sh700 million, the committee requests that the Budget and Appropriations Committee allocate an additional Sh1.3 billion to Dr. Ruto’s international mission.
The Treasury proposed increasing the budget for the Executive Office of the President by Sh5.18 billion to Sh13.83 billion in the Supplemental Budget for 2022/23, an increase of 59.89%.
Outside of the Presidency, the DP received an additional Sh458,500,000. State House’s budget has more than doubled from the Sh4.37 billion approved under former President Uhuru Kenyatta to Sh8.85 billion, while Mr. Gachagua’s office expenses have increased by 5h914,25 million to Sh2.6 billion.
Dr. Ruto, who assumed power in September of last year, directed the Treasury to cut the budget for running the government by as much as Sh300 billion to bring “our country to sanity” in which the State does not borrow to “finance recurrent expenditure”.
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Dr. Ruto also stated that he planned to reduce recurring expenditures by an undisclosed amount the following year to achieve a recurring budget surplus by the third year.
Typical recurring expenditures include salaries, travel, and refreshments for government employees, as well as fuel for the government’s fleet of vehicles.
According to data from the Treasury, the Presidency’s recurrent expenditures for the seven months were 12.47 percent, or Sh931 million, higher than the previous administration’s expenditures of Sh7.47 billion over the same period.
In December, approximately Sh2.19 billion was withdrawn from the treasury by the most powerful office in the country, compared to an average monthly withdrawal of Sh1.2 billion during the period.
The fiscal consolidation plan of the new administration has been impeded by sub-target performance in revenue mobilization and above-target expenditures.
Ordinary revenue, which consists of taxes, levies, rent for buildings, investment, fines, and forfeitures, fell short of the Sh532.37 billion target by Sh32.81 billion for the six months ending in December, while recurrent expenditures exceeded the budget by Sh114.24 billion to nearly Sh1.1 trillion.
“Recurrent expenditure for national government amounted to Sh1,096.3 billion (excluding Sh25.2 billion for Parliament and Judiciary), against a target of Sh982.0 billion, which was Sh114.3 billion above the set target,” the Treasury reported in the quarterly budgetary and expenditure report for the period ending in December.
Ruto requests Sh2 billion allocation in the upcoming budget for international engagements
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