Friday, July 26, 2024 – President William Ruto may have fooled the Gen Zs after he announced the scrapping of offices of the First and Second Ladies, and doing away with their budgets as a way of cutting government spending.
This is after the government reinstated the offices with their full budgets, a day after Ruto formed a Government of National Unity with former Prime Minister Raila Odinga by nominating four ODM members to his broad-based Cabinet.
The Ndindi Nyoro-led Budget and Appropriations Committee rejected the plan by the Treasury to fold up Rachel Ruto and Dorcas Gachagua’s offices despite mounting pressure to cut costs.
The move to retain the two unconstitutional offices has come as a shocker to many after Kenyans pressured Ruto to disband them.
Ruto had initially proposed significant budget cuts, aiming to scrap confidential expenditures for the Office of the Deputy President, as well as allocations to the Office of the First Lady and the Office of the Spouse to the Deputy President.
The proposal faced staunch opposition from the Committee on Administration and Internal Security in the National Assembly.
Narok West MP Gabriel Koshal Tongoyo, head of the Committee, alongside members like George Peter Kaluma, argued that terminating the contracts of staff in these offices could lead to legal challenges and additional costs.
They emphasised the binding nature of the contracts and the potential financial repercussions of discontinuing these services.
The committee's decision to retain the budget lines has sparked debate and speculation on its implications.
Treasury had originally scrapped the budget lines for the offices of the First and Second Ladies, aiming to save Ksh1.25 billion in the current financial year.
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