President William Ruto visits former President Uhuru Kenyatta (left) at his Gatundu home on December 9, 2024. (Photo: PCS)
Benefits to retired presidents Uhuru Kenyatta and Moi families were among the biggest casualties of funding shortfalls at State House in the first nine months of the 2025-26 financial year according to data seen by The Star.
Despite all other State House institutions recording massive overspending and overshooting budgets, the Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o points out that benefits to the former presidents and deputies fell below projections.
The CoB said that the programme responsible for administering statutory benefits to retired presidents and deputy presidents absorbed only 63 per cent of its allocation by March 31, making it the worst-performing programme under State House.
The programme, which caters for benefits owed to former presidents including the late Daniel Arap Moi, the late Mwai Kibaki and former president Uhuru Kenyatta, had been allocated Sh452.61 million for the year but spent only Sh283.8 million during the period under review.
“The Coordination of State House Functions sub-programme under the State House Affairs programme recorded the highest absorption rate at 140 per cent, while the Administration of statutory Benefits for the retired Presidents and Deputy Presidents sub-programme recorded the lowest absorption rate at 63 per cent,” said Nyakang’o
The low absorption stands in sharp contrast to overall spending at State House, which exceeded its approved budget by a wide margin after receiving additional funding through Article 223 of the Constitution.
According to the CoB, State House was allocated Sh8.58 billion for the 2025-26 financial year, down from Sh12.07 billion in the previous year.
However, expenditure reached Sh11.68 billion by the end of March, translating to an absorption rate of 136 per cent.
The overspending was largely driven by the "Coordination of State House Functions" programme, which consumed Sh11.4 billion against an approved budget of Sh8.13 billion, representing an absorption rate of 140 per cent.
The Controller of Budget attributed the excess expenditure to additional funding of Sh4.45 billion approved under Article 223 to cater for other operating expenses at State House.
The findings by controller of budget suggest that while operational activities at State House received substantial supplementary support, benefits for retired heads of state and their deputies lagged behind in funding absorption.
Separate data in the report on salaries and allowances of constitutional office holders shows that payments to former presidents also trailed approved allocations.
Former presidents had an allocation of Sh22.68 billion in salaries and allowances but only Sh14.8 billion had been spent by the end of March, translating to a budget performance rate of 65 per cent.
The former presidents spent only Sh9.88 billion while, the first lady offices spent Sh4.94 billion in the nine-month period.
The same utilisation rate was recorded in the previous financial year, pointing to a sustained trend even as the president William Ruto’s administration engage in a push and pull with former president Uhuru Kenyatta over engagement in the country’s political affairs.
Overall, the Office of the President and Deputy President recorded a 64 per cent absorption rate for salaries and allowances, below the government's third-quarter target of 75 per cent.
Nyakang’0 says that during the first nine months of the financial year, the government spent Sh1.35 trillion on public debt obligations, while total public debt rose to Sh12.82 trillion, equivalent to 69.9 per cent of GDP
