The national government has come under scrutiny for excessive expenditure on travel and allowances, despite budget cuts and a presidential directive to scale down spending.
Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakango has flagged these inefficiencies in the latest “Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) Recurrent Expenditure Analysis” for the first half of the Fiscal Year 2024/2025.
The report highlights significant waste across various state offices, with funds that could be allocated to essential services instead being channelled into questionable travel expenditures.
The Ministry of Defence and the State Department for Public Health are among those with notably high travel costs, raising accountability concerns.
Additionally, entities such as the Office of the Deputy President and the State Department for Correctional Services have been singled out for persistently overspending on travel and allowances without clear justification, even as overall government allocations were reduced.
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The national government had initially set its ministerial recurrent expenditure budget at Sh1.63 trillion for the 2024/2025 financial year, later revising it to Sh1.59 trillion through Supplementary Estimates.
However, in just the first six months, expenditure had already hit Sh810.57 billion, accounting for 51 per cent of the revised recurrent budget.
This is a slight increase from the 49 per cent recorded in the same period of 2023/2024, when spending stood at Sh792.52 billion.
Nyakango’s revelations have intensified public concerns over fiscal discipline, with Kenyans questioning the government’s spending priorities amid growing national debt and economic challenges.
The revelations come despite President William Ruto’s directive last year calling for spending cuts following the anti-2024 Finance Bill protests.
The findings have renewed pressure on the government to enforce stricter financial controls and curb unnecessary expenditure as the country grapples with economic hardships.
