The Deputy President William Ruto is faced with accrued undisclosed huge pending bills from his official foreign travels while representing the President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Chief Finance Officer in DP’s office Mary Kundu told a parliamentary committee that Foreign Affairs ministry mandated with financing foreign travel for officials within the Presidency has been reluctant to fund Ruto’s visits.
“The Deputy President’s office has no foreign travels Fund and Foreign Affairs ministry funds the President but when DP travels to represent the President he is not funded. Sometimes we have to look for funds somewhere and the bills have to be repaid,” Kundu told National Assembly’s National Security and Administration committee.
However, she noted that the newly created office of the Deputy President might be reason for controversy surrounding the funding of Ruto’s trips.
Kundu cited Ruto’s March 13, 2016 official tour for Global Education and Skills Forum in Dubai where a Kenyan teacher, Ayub Mohamud was feted for combating radicalization against his students, as among DP’s foreign travel trips with pending bills.
She appealed to the committee chaired by Tiaty MP Asman Kamama for 26 per cent allocation in the 2015/16 Supplementary Budget to clear the huge pending bills although the law limits Treasury from spending beyond 10 per cent of the total national budget in supplementary budget period.
However, the Budget Office opposed to Kundu's plea on grounds that any increase beyond the stipulated 10 per cent in Supplementary Budget will adversely affect major government operations.
Treasury allocated the Presidency Sh 725 million in the 2015/16 Supplementary Budget for approval by Parliament.
“It was beyond our control to have those huge pending bills. The DP’s office is new structure in administration and progressive budget funding has been normal way to factor its operation,” said Kundu.
The committee asked Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich and his Foreign Affairs counterpart Amina Mohamed should sit and address the matter without delay.
“Treasury and Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretaries should provide answer possibly within two weeks or create a Fund for DP’s travel. It will reach a time when DP will even be told that there is no moving,” said Kamama.The committee wondered why Foreign Affairs ministry was discriminative in funding Ruto’s foreign trips yet the Presidency and DP’s office are one institution. It claimed someone was taking advantage of controversy surrounding the funding.
“We don’t want one section of the Presidency to be marginalized or hear one section begging for money in the next financial year. This issue should be addressed as soon as possible,” said Kamama.
Yatta MP Francis Mwangangi blamed the DP’s Chief Finance Officer for delaying to report to the committee problems facing Ruto’s office.