Of State House's ballooning budget and the 10-point agenda lie

Last week, President William Ruto and interim ODM party leader Oburu Oginga sat side by side at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) to receive the official implementation report of the Ten-Point Agenda. The document, prepared by the Agnes Zani-led committee COIN-10, claimed significant progress: nine bills drafted to address electoral loopholes, Sh2 billion set aside for protest victims, and an 80 per cent implementation rate on agreed commitments.

Within 24 hours, that narrative was tested against the reality. The Linda Mwananchi faction of ODM, led by Nairobi senator Edwin Sifuna, released a blistering counter-report awarding the government a score of one out of ten.

Siaya governor James Orengo called the official report a “fraud.” Suba South MP Caroli Omondi dismissed it as a “mini-skirt” document, short on substance but designed to attract attention.

At the heart of their indictment was a single, glaring contradiction: Agenda Item Nine’s promise to stop wastage of public resources and promote government efficiency set against a State House budget that has nearly doubled in one year.

Kenya’s State House budget now stands at Sh16.9 billion for the 2025/26 financial year, nearly double the initial Sh8.6 billion allocation. The figure has triggered sharp debate among economists and fiscal analysts about government spending priorities, and whether the austerity promises made after the 2024 Gen Z protests were ever genuine.

The timing could not be more damaging for the government’s narrative. While the COIN-10 report was celebrating progress on austerity, Treasury figures told a different story: State House had already recorded recurrent expenditure of more than Sh10 billion in the first seven months of the financial year. By February 2026, the presidency had exceeded its approved annual allocation of about Sh7.6 billion.

In practical terms, the presidency exhausted its yearly budget months before the financial year ended. The spending surge was particularly visible in January, when expenditure reached Sh1.3 billion in a single month – roughly Sh42 million every day.

Treasury officials acknowledge that such overruns complicate fiscal planning because they force the government to reallocate resources from other programmes.

The Office of the Deputy President showed a similar pattern. Kithure Kindiki’s office recorded expenditure of about Sh3.33 billion against a budget of roughly Sh2.97 billion, an overspend of more than Sh360 million.

Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o has also flagged the Office of the Deputy President’s spouse, Joyce Njagi, for spending Sh44.52 million in the first half of 2025/26 despite having no allocation from the National Assembly.

At a time when many government departments struggled to meet development targets due to financial constraints, the two offices at the top of the Executive structure appeared to be moving in the opposite direction.

The commitment to reduce the cost of government emerged directly from the political crisis triggered by the 2024 Gen Z protests. As public anger mounted over new taxes and rising living costs, President Ruto announced a series of austerity measures meant to signal that the government had heard the streets’ message.

Among the most prominent pledges tied to Agenda Item Nine were the abolition 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 President also ordered a freeze on government vehicle purchases, suspended non-essential travel, and promised to cut administrative expenses across ministries and State agencies.

These measures were presented as proof that the government was willing to tighten its belt before asking citizens to make further sacrifices. In effect, the austerity promises made in the heat of the Gen Z protests became part of an official reform agenda.

The priorities

Yet the numbers from the Treasury suggest that while the government has publicly spoken about reducing expenditure, spending at the very top of the Executive has continued to rise.

Samuel Nyandemo, a senior lecturer in economics at the University of Nairobi, argues that the figures released by State House might even underestimate the true spending.

“Most of this money is not properly accounted for,” Dr Nyandemo says, adding that limited disclosure around how the funds are used raises questions about oversight.

Nyandemo also questioned whether spending had remained within the limits approved by Parliament.

“Firstly, State House was allocated some money through the Budget which has been overutilized, meaning they are spending outside the approved Budget reallocation, which is an illegality. They are living beyond their means,” Nyandemo argues.

He places the spending in the context of broader national priorities, noting that, “currently the northeastern part of Kenya is facing severe drought”.

Nyandemo argues that educational programmes lack critical facilities, including books and chairs, and that the health sector is underperforming.

“In most hospitals, patients have no food. So that theory indicates that the priorities of the current government are misplaced or upside down”.

His conclusion was blunt:

“State House needs to adjust its extravagance and wastages and stick to the budget. It cannot be justified, therefore raising eyebrows on public expenditure through an appetite for using taxpayers’ money on issues which are of no consequence in terms of promoting economic growth and improving service delivery”.

Rufas Kamau, an economist and financial markets researcher at Forbes Digital Assets, also questioned whether the spending makes sense given current economic pressures.

“What we should really be asking is not how Kenya compares to the US in terms of raw numbers, but whether Sh16.9 billion is worth it or comparable to what Kenya actually needs. When you look at the things happening in the country right now, they do not really make sense, especially in terms of healthcare. We saw the government raising the premiums that people pay for medical insurance. The premiums are rising but the returns people get, especially if they are sick, are much lower,” Kamau said.

The State House spending rise has fueled comparisons with the White House budget in the United States, with some political commentary suggesting Kenya now spends more on its presidency than several larger economies.

Kamau adds that comparisons within Africa further highlight the scale of the spending.

“Nigeria has a population of about 220 million people and spends about 3.1 billion Kenyan shillings on the presidency. In Kenya, we are spending about 16.9 billion for a population of almost 60 million people. Clearly, the appetite for taxpayer money is much higher in Kenya than many other nations”.

Political analysist Macharia Munene, commenting on the political fallout of such spending patterns has, notes that “when the Executive branch disregards its own budget ceilings, it sends a signal that fiscal discipline does not apply at the top. That perception erodes public trust and fuels the kind of civic anger we saw in 2024.”

Independent economist Ian Njoroge also notes that the government’s fiscal tightrope conflicts with IMF advice. The Fund’s officials have consistently urged Nairobi to expand its tax base and rein in spending to ensure debt sustainability.

“The authorities are trying to balance two imperatives: showing the IMF a path to fiscal consolidation while demonstrating to voters that their lives are improving,” Njoroge said. “The budget tries to walk this line, but IMF will want more concrete, binding commitments.”

Another controversy to the 10-point agenda implementation around the rule of law concerns presidential advisers. In December 2025, the High Court ruled that the appointment of more than 20 advisers was unconstitutional, holding that their creation and funding violated legal frameworks.

Ordinarily, such a ruling would require the positions to be dissolved. Yet sources within State House indicate that several of these advisers continue to report to work, draw salaries, and advise the President, operating in a legal grey zone that amounts to open contempt for a court order.

For the Sifuna-led group, the issue is not only disregard of rule of law but financial discipline as well: public resources are still sustaining offices that technically no longer exist. It also represents a direct contradiction of the government’s promise to eliminate waste, and outright violation of Agenda Item Ten, which covers rule-of-law commitments.