Ministry of Defence records highest spending of Sh40 billion in three months

The Ministry of Defence recorded the highest spending in the first three months of the 2024/25 financial year (July to September), amounting to Sh40.25 billion, according to a report by Controller of Budget (CoG) Margaret Nyakang’o.

This expenditure was part of a total of Sh134.12 billion in grants reported by ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs), which represents 37 per cent of the MDAs’ gross recurrent expenditure.

Other notable expenditures included Sh9.24 billion by the National Treasury, Sh8.52 billion by the State Department for Higher Education and Research and Sh159.80 million by the State Department for ASALs and Regional Development for emergency relief efforts.

In addition, Sh13.27 billion was spent on other expenses, which accounted for four per cent of the total operating costs.

The State Department for Internal Security and National Administration spent Sh3.95 billion on security operations, while the State Department for Basic Education allocated Sh2 billion for school examination invigilation and fees.

Nyakang’o notes that the National Police Service used Sh1.95 billion, including Sh1.47 billion for security operations, and the National Treasury spent Sh1.75 billion, with Sh1.53 billion earmarked for security.

The Controller of Budget also raised concerns about excessive travel spending across the three arms of government, with Members of Parliament leading the way in spending large amounts on both domestic and foreign travel.

The report revealed that in the three months, Sh3.5 billion was spent on travel, with Sh2.5 billion allocated to domestic travel and Sh1 billion for international trips.

The Controller of Budget report singled out MPs for what was described as “honourable extravagance,” noting that National Assembly members alone spent Sh870 million on domestic travel over four months and Sh173 million on foreign trips.

The Senate also came under scrutiny, with the CoG flagging its expenditure of Sh345.7 million on domestic travel and Sh80.6 million on foreign travel within the same period.

Other parliamentary departments, such as the Parliamentary Service Commission, spent Sh10.7 million on domestic travel, while the Parliamentary Joint Services allocated Sh94.6 million.

Meanwhile, the Office of the President spent Sh11 million on domestic travel and Sh1.3 million on foreign travel.

State House also incurred additional travel costs, amounting to Sh43 million for domestic travel and Sh5.8 million for international travel between July and October.

The CoG’s report highlighted that these expenditures reflected a disregard for the austerity measures announced by President William Ruto.

The report also revealed that compensation to employees amounted to Sh151 billion during the three months, representing 26 per cent of the revised allocation.

Nyakang’o noted that this figure excludes payments to the National Intelligence Service, Kenya Defence Forces under the National Security Sector, semi-autonomous government agencies, state corporations, and state-owned corporations.

“MDAs’ compensation to employees accounted for 24 per cent of the national government’s equitable share of national revenue and appropriations-in-aid, in line with the Public Financial Management (PFM) Regulations of 2015, which stipulate that national government expenditure should not exceed 35 per cent of its revenue share,” reads the report.