The State House and the Office of the President spent Sh653.5 million on hospitality in the first half of the fiscal year ended December 2023, leading other government departments in this line of expenditure.
The Controller of Budget (COB) data shows the President’s residence and office raised its hospitality spending by 16.8 percent from Sh559.4 million in the same period a year earlier.
In the review period, the State House spent Sh429.9 million while the Office of the President incurred a bill of Sh223.5 million on items, including food and entertainment.
The rise in spending comes despite the government’s talk of austerity.
Major spenders
The COB data shows the State Department for Internal Security and National Administration spent Sh291.1 million on hospitality, making it one of the other major spenders in this area in the review period.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s office also spent Sh206.9 million on hospitality.
State House has, in the six months under review, hosted various heads of State and other dignitaries, including Sudan Army Chief President of the Transitional Sovereignty Council of Sudan, Abdel-Fattah Al Burhan and NBA officials led by NBA Africa CEO Victor Williams, five-time NBA champion Ron Harper and former NBA player Micheal Finley.
Other State House visitors in the period were Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad) delegates led by Dr Workneh Gebeyehu, the Executive Secretary.
The Judiciary spent Sh215.6 million on hospitality, while the National Treasury spent Sh212.2 million for similar purposes.
The Foreign Affairs ministry was next, spending Sh203.4 million.
Budget overshoot
The hospitality spending saw some government departments overshoot their budget in the review period.
President Ruto’s official residence, for instance, overshot its budget by Sh477 million. State House spent Sh5.37 billion against a target of Sh4.92 billion.
The interior ministry, which spent Sh15.84 billion, also overshot its target expenditure of Sh14.8 billion.
“During the reporting period, the Controller of Budget identified key issues and made recommendations to address them including; delays in the release of the exchequer to both MDAs and Counties, overdrawn budget lines due to budget rationalisation without considering expenditure already incurred, and a high level of public debt,” read the report in part.
The COB highlighted the exploitation of a legal loophole to spend more than the legally permissible additional funds in various dockets.
“Analysis of the financial reports submitted to the COB shows that some expenditures were more than the budgeted amounts, resulting in overdrawn budget lines,” added the CoB.
The CoB recommended state departments reallocate funds to budget lines with the likelihood of overshooting from those that are less spent.