Relief for First and Second Lady's Staff as Parliament Rejects Budget Cuts

NAIROBI, 25 July 2023 – The Budget and Appropriations Committee chaired by Ndindi Nyoro has thrown out the Treasury's proposal that sought to abolish the offices of the First and the Second Lady, hence saving staff attached to the offices major embarrassment. 

This saves the two offices from abolition and their continued existence goes against an earlier plan by President William Ruto to reduce expenditure by striking out the two offices from the budget.

The proposal had sought to slash spending, abolishing confidential allocations to the Office of the Deputy President and offices of the First and Second Lady, which was the first Supplementary Budget for the current financial year, as presented by President Ruto. 

It was sternly opposed by the Committee on Administration and Internal Security in the National Assembly.

Narok West MP Gabriel Koshal Tongoyo and other members of this committee, including George Peter Kaluma, opined that the cancellation of the contracts for staff in these offices might attract legal suits and additional costs. 

They emphasized that once one is engaged under a contractual obligation, there are binding elements in these contracts, which are financially costly to disengage.

The Treasury had proposed Ksh1.25 billion savings on the budget lines slashed for First Lady Rachael Ruto and Second Lady Dorcas Gachagua as part of a broader austerity strategy to address a Ksh346 billion deficit that resulted from the now-abandoned controversial Finance Bill 2024.                             

First, the office of Rachael Ruto had been allocated Kshs. 696.6 million, an increase of 17.3 percent from last year's allocation, while that of Dorcas Gachagua was scrapped totally, losing Ksh557.6 million. 

The cuts were to have formed part of President Ruto's commitment in the address meant to scrap the budgets for the offices in wake of mass protests against the Finance Bill 2024.

Budget lines providing for the operations of the offices of the First Lady, the spouses of the Deputy President and the Prime Cabinet Secretary shall be removed, President Ruto assured outraged citizens.

As the supplementary budget is still under parliamentary scrutiny, this latest resolution to retain the First and Second Lady's offices remains quite controversial. 

Only this goes to emphasize that the debate relating to government expenditure and fiscal responsibility is far from over.