MPs narrow Ruto wife budget with First Lady
What you need to know:
- Mrs Ruto is also paid by the government in her position as the spouse of Deputy President William Ruto.
- The increase in allocation to Mrs Ruto’s office was put under recurrent expenditure like paying supplies, travel expenses and staff salaries including her bodyguards.
- Her office is based at the NHIF building in Nairobi’s Upper Hill.
Parliament’s Budget committee has increased the allocation to the office of the wife of the Deputy President by Sh30 million, narrowing the gap with that received by the office of the First Lady.
The Budget and Appropriations Committee last week increased Mrs Rachel Ruto’s office budget to Sh102.9 million for the year starting July, up from the Sh72.9 million that the Treasury had allocated.
The committee left the budget of Mrs Kenyatta’s office unchanged at Sh114.4 million, cutting the budget gap between the two offices to Sh11.5 million compared to Sh41.5 million based on Treasury estimates.
Treasury released it estimates on April 30, but the Constitution provides for Parliament to review the Budget ahead of the reading by Finance secretary Henry Rotich on Thursday.
The committee tabled its changes in Parliament on Wednesday, which saw the size of the Budget increase to Sh1.779 trillion from Sh1.769 trillion.
The increase in allocation to Mrs Ruto’s office was put under recurrent expenditure like paying supplies, travel expenses and staff salaries including her bodyguards.
Mrs Ruto is also paid by the government in her position as the spouse of Deputy President William Ruto.
Last year, she launched a nationwide drive to empower poor women through business training and organising them into saccos to deepen financial inclusion.
Part of the funds allocated to the office goes towards financing her movements to remote areas largely dominated by low-income earners. She has in the past months been in several counties championing the adoption of entrepreneurship by women from low-income households.
The Deputy President’s wife has also in the past called on women to claim a share of the 30 per cent of public contracts reserved for them and youths.
Her office is based at the NHIF building in Nairobi’s Upper Hill.
This article first appeared in the Business Daily.
