Ruto Orders Budget Cuts Across All Ministries

President William Ruto has ordered all Ministries to reduce their 2023/24 budgets by 10 per cent.

This follows a cabinet meeting that was held at State House Nairobi on Tuesday, October 3.

"President William Ruto has directed ministries to cut their 2023/2024 budgets by 10 per cent to align expenditures with available resources amidst the global economic stress.

"While chairing a cabinet meeting at State House, Nairobi, President Ruto emphasized the need for the Government to exercise prudence in resource utilization, firmly stating that wastage and corruption would not be tolerated," read an excerpt of a despatch seen by Viral Tea.

The Head of State also issued a warning to government officials seeking to bypass the use of a unified payment system, underscoring the necessity for better oversight.

The budget cuts come almost a day after new guidelines were issued which cut down on unnecessary expenditures, including that of non-essential travel affecting 13 State Officers.

In a notice signed by Chief of Staff, Felix Koskei, the directives suspending foreign travel affected members of the National and County Governments. Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi will however not be affected by the new suspension. 

Other affected officials include the Attorney General, Cabinet Secretaries, Principal Secretaries and County Officers as well as the Controller of the Budget. 

Others include; the Auditor General, Chief Registrar of the Judiciary, Director of Public Prosecutions, Clerk of the Senate and his counterpart in the National Assembly. 

All County Governors, County Secretaries and County Assembly Clerks will also be affected by the new directive. Also included are Chairpersons and CEOs of State Corporations, Statutory Offices and Commissions as well as Independent Offices.

"This has been necessitated by the need to scale down and prioritise spending, focusing on critical operations and activities that are essential to service delivery to the citizen," the notice read in part.

The government announced that foreign travel would henceforth be limited to engagements where Kenya's participation is part of the fulfilment of state obligations or for the purpose of fulfilling statutory leadership.

The government also suspended benchmarking and study visits as well as training and related capacity-building initiatives, with effect Monday, October 2.

The aforementioned state officers will also not be able to travel outside the country for research, academic meetings, conferences and meetings of general participation. Koskei also banned side events and caucus and association meetings and events.

"Sponsored events which often attract the need for supplementation in terms of a quarter per diem and ticket upgrade are similarly suspended, except where the invitees expressly waive the anticipated top-up amount," State Officers were told. 

If necessary to travel, a cabinet secretary will be accompanied by a maximum of two people while Principal Secretary can only travel with one member of his staff.

"Delegations accompanying the President, the First Lady, the Deputy President and the Prime Cabinet Secretary shall strictly be approved for officials playing a direct role in the scheduled role," Koskei outlined. 

Pressure has been mounting on the Kenyan government to reduce the high cost of living triggered by rising food and fuel prices because the increasing taxes would frustrate taxpayers whose disposable incomes have been hit by the high cost of living while on the other hand expenditure cuts could choke further growth in output.