Nyakang’o admits Sh44m error on DP spouse office

The Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang'o has clarified that her office made an error in reporting that the Office of the Spouse of the Deputy President spent Sh44.52 million during the first half of the 2025-26 financial year.

In a formal letter addressed to Principal Administrative Secretary Moses Mbaruku in the Office of the Deputy President, Nyakang’o acknowledged that the figures published in the latest budget performance report were inaccurate.

She explained that the Office of the Controller of Budget (OCOB) website had incorrectly attributed Sh44.52 million expenditure to the Office of the Spouse of the Deputy President (OSDP) under the “Affirmative Action Intervention” sub-programme. The funds, she clarified, actually belonged to a different budget line.

“The OCOB website contained incorrectly mapped expenditure of Sh44.52 million to the Office of the Spouse of the Deputy President (OSDP) Affirmative Action Intervention sub-programme instead of the Government Strategic Priority Intervention sub-programme,” Nyakang’o stated.

According to the Controller of Budget, the mistake arose from a technical error during the preparation of the report.

She said figures were mistakenly transposed between two sub-programmes that appeared consecutively in the reporting template.

“My office regrets the error and has since taken the earliest opportunity to correct it in the republished report, which was published yesterday, March 11, 2026,” she said.

Nyakang’o further assured that corrective measures have already been put in place to prevent similar inaccuracies in future reports. “Going forward, we will institute the necessary interventions to avoid a repeat of such errors.”

The initial report had sparked public scrutiny and raised accountability concerns after indicating that the Office of the Spouse of the Deputy President had spent millions despite not receiving any budgetary allocation from Parliament.

In her earlier National Government Budget Implementation Review report covering the period between July 1 and December 31, 2025, Nyakang’o had flagged the expenditure, prompting questions over its legality and constitutional basis.

Critics had pointed out that the office of the Deputy President’s spouse is not formally recognised under the constitution as a public entity eligible to receive or spend public funds.

The revelation intensified debate over the structure and funding of auxiliary offices linked to top government officials.

Under its official mandate, the Office of the Deputy President is responsible for coordinating and supervising government policies, programmes, and projects. However, supporting the activities of the spouse’s office does not fall within its legally defined functions.

The controversy also revived discussion around austerity measures introduced by President William Ruto in 2024.

At the time, Ruto ordered the removal of budget allocations for the offices of the First Lady, the spouse of the Deputy President, and the spouse of the Prime Cabinet Secretary.

The directive formed part of broader cost-cutting efforts aimed at aligning government expenditure with reduced revenue following the withdrawal of the 2024 Finance Bill, which had sought to raise Sh346 billion but faced widespread opposition and youth-led protests.