Deputy President William Ruto’s office is the biggest casualty of massive budget cuts in the 2020/2021 financial year.
Hour into tabling of this year’s budget estimates by Treasury CS Ukuru Yatani, Ruto’s office will have to grapple with a 40 percent slash on its budget for this year. The office has been allocated Ksh1.4 billion compared to Ksh2.4 billion allocated in the 2019/2020 financial year.
The hardest-hit area for Ruto’s office is entertainment whose slash amounts to 87 percent drop.
His allocation for entertainment in the new estimates is Ksh23.9 million, a drop from Ksh193 million allocated in the financial year ending June 30, 2020.
His travel has been hit hard as well with Ksh96 million being allocated for domestic travel. This is a decrease from Ksh193 million allocated in the 2019/2020 financial year. International travel for his office has been allocated Ksh33 million from Ksh89 million.
In the new budget estimates, fuel cost for the DP has been cut to Ksh14 million from Ksh28 million.
The government has defended these measures saying that budget cuts are in every ministry and key office of the government in a bid to promote austerity.
However, for Ruto, the massive budget cuts have been touted to be politically motivated given his tumultuous times with the government.
But even as these austerity measures are enforced, opposition leader Raila Odinga is the biggest beneficiary of the 2020/2021 budget estimates.
Raila’s office was allocated Ksh71.9 million in the new budget estimates.
Ksh26 million of this allocation is expected to go towards the purchase of high-end cars for his office, Ksh10 million for furniture and a further Ksh30 million for insurance and salaries for staff.
