In his State of the Nation Address on Friday, President Uhuru proposed wide-ranging cuts in spending as well as austerity measures across all arms of government.
But it seems the President is preaching water and drinking wine. A report has revealed that the President and his deputy spent Sh1 billion each on hospitality during the first nine months of the 2015/16 financial year despite their repeated calls for austerity.
But we still face a financing gap. This measure will not suffice to balance our budget, as required by law. Therefore I have also proposed wide-ranging cuts in spending as well as austerity measures across all arms of government.
— Uhuru Kenyatta (@UKenyatta) September 14, 2018
The Controller of Budget’s report for the third quarter of this financial year shows that the Presidency used Sh1.045 billion on hospitality, Sh359 million on domestic travel, Sh167 million on foreign tours and Sh149 million on printing and advertising.
The huge expenditure on hospitality and travel flies in the face of the President’s repeated advice to government officials to cut costs associated with travel and hospitality in order to free money for development.
Addressing a governors’ summit at Sagana State Lodge in Nyeri in February, Mr Kenyatta directed government officials to reduce travel and expense allowances by 60 per cent.
“The national and county governments have committed to achieve a 60 per cent reduction in travel and allowance expenditure,” he said. The decision, he said, would direct more resources to development.
He promised to form a team to analyse functions of the national and county governments to avoid duplication of roles and resource wastage.
“A commission will be formed to identify and differentiate roles by the two levels of government to ensure that devolution delivers the intended benefits to citizens,” he said.
Neither the directive to reduce expenditure nor the formation of the commission have come to fruition.