Zero development funds: President's office, police, IEBC among 14 agencies starved of budget cash
The National Police Service (NPS) also featured among the departments that received no project funds, despite its development budget being revised down from Sh1.78 billion to Sh85 million.
Fourteen State departments and agencies, some of them central to national governance and security, did not receive any development funding in the 11 months to May 2025, despite being allocated Sh9.38 billion in last year’s budget.
A statement from the National Treasury listing cash released to ministries, departments and county governments during the period shows no development disbursements were made to these entities, raising serious concerns about the government’s implementation of its own budget plans.
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Among those affected are President William Ruto’s office, the State House, and the office of the Deputy President, which had a combined development budget of Sh4.5 billion in the original estimates passed in June 2024.
Although this amount was later cut to Sh535 million in supplementary budgets, no money was released to the three offices throughout the reporting period.
The National Police Service (NPS) also featured among the departments that received no project funds, despite its development budget being revised down from Sh1.78 billion to Sh85 million.
The same happened with the State House budget, which was lowered from Sh1.56 billion to Sh400 million, and the president’s office, whose budget was cut from Sh1.2 billion to Sh50 million.
The Treasury report shows that even after the adjustments, these offices retained allocations under the revised budgets, yet they were not given any funds to carry out development work by May 2025.
Other departments affected include the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), the Public Service Commission (PSC), the National Land Commission (NLC), and the National Gender and Equality Commission. None of these received any project funds, despite having initial budget allocations.
Also on the list are the State Departments for Foreign Affairs, East African Community (EAC), Petroleum, Mining, Sports, Broadcasting and Telecommunications.
These departments had collectively been allocated Sh4.8 billion, but the entire amount was scrapped in the supplementary budget process, leaving them with nothing for development.
Among the funds removed were Sh2.39 billion meant for the State Department for Foreign Affairs, Sh651.9 million for Broadcasting and Telecommunications, and Sh320.4 million for the Deputy President’s office.
During the 11 months under review, the Treasury disbursed a total of Sh264.8 billion for development across the national government out of the approved Sh354.9 billion annual budget.
But the complete freeze on disbursement to 14 agencies highlights a growing disconnect between budget planning and actual execution.
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