MPs Overturn Ruto’s Bid to Scrap Office of the First Lady 

The National Assembly’s Budget and Appropriations Committee on Thursday, July 25, rejected the government’s plan to shut down the offices of the First Lady Rachel Ruto and Second Lady Dorcas Rigathi. 

The Treasury cut the Ksh1.25 billion budget assigned to these offices in the 2024/25 budget after a directive made by President William Ruto. 

The changes were reflected in the Supplementary Budget of 2024/25 which is currently being reviewed by Parliament. 

State House Comptroller Katoo Ole Metito appeared before the budget committee on Thursday, July 18, and requested Ksh597 million to shut down the offices by paying the employee benefits for staff who already had contracts with the two offices. 

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The committee adopted the proposal and have now sought to reinstate the offices and their respective budgets. 

MPs argued that shutting down the offices would incur costs for taxpayers and staff would be paid up to the end of their contracts, for work not done.

Metito told MPs that while it was okay to close the office, it was important to compensate officers who had signed contracts with the office before it was scrapped. 

“These people had contracts and stopping them would attract legal consequences. I understand we need to reduce the budget but we need to do it in a reasonable way not to close the office, ” Ole Metito said.

MPs have approved a series of budget cuts in the health and education sector.

The National Blood Transfusion Services will face a Sh200 million cut and the Comprehensive Cancer Centre at Kenyatta University Teaching and Referral Hospital will lose Sh100 million meant for its expansion.

Kenyatta National Hospital, will have its budget reduced by Sh500 million which was supposed to be used for updating old equipment.  Similarly, the Managed Equipment Service, which leases medical equipment to hospitals, will see a Sh500 million cut.

In the education sector, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) will have its budget cut by Sh10 billion. 

Read Also: Teachers to Miss Pay Hike That Was to Start This Month - TSC‍

Earlier this week, TSC announced that it would be unable to pay the much awaited 9.5% pay hike for teachers, which was scheduled to reflect in this month’s payslip, July 2024 if the Ksh10 billion cut was approved.

"We have communicated to the Treasury about the impact of these cuts. We simply don't have the funds to implement the CBA by the end of the month. Our budget allocation only allows us to cover existing salaries," TSC CEO Nancy Macharia explained.

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