Treasury CS Mbadi admits gov’t wastage but defends State House facelift

Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi says wastage of public resources is still rampant in the government despite President William Ruto’s austerity pledge last year.

In a Thursday interview with Spice FM, Mbadi singled out procurement processes as one of the major areas the government is losing money.

“I cannot deny there is still wastage in the government and one of the most critical steps for us now is having a procurement management system. That is where we lose a lot of resources alongside budgeting,” the minister said.

“This year, we have come up with a zero-based budget; you have to justify every shilling you ask from the government, as opposed to incremental budgeting.”

Mbadi added that the government is introducing an online procurement platform to seal the wastage, which is expected to be fully operational by the start of the 2025/26 financial year.

“We are rolling out e-procurement which I expect to start operating by the end of this quarter and effectively cover all government departments by July 1,” he said.

“We have also moved to this technical accrual basis accounting from cash basis to capture all government commitments and revenue, and are also rolling out treasury singular accounts to avoid having several accounts.”

The minister however defended the recent State House renovations, the second time in just over two years it has undergone major works, which millions of shillings were poured into to Kenyans’ dismay.

Mbadi maintained that while the government is still on a cost-cutting mission, a facelift was overdue.

“It had reached a point where State House was leaking. One can question the extent of the renovation but you cannot question whether we needed a facelift of the facility. This is where we host all the international delegations,” he said.

“We removed a lot of budget lines from State House in the current financial year, including the so-called confidential expenditure. What it generally has now are operations and administrations to help run presidential activities.”

The Controller of Budget (CoB) recently revealed a Ksh.10.7 billion plan to refurbish state houses and state lodges over 12 years ending in June 2027.

CoB records show no money was spent between June 2024 and December 2024 following the budget cuts instituted by the President after the finance bill's withdrawal in the wake of last year's deadly protests.

However, work has continued, resulting in the new look State House unveiled last month. There is a chance that pending bills for the project are yet to be declared.

In the 2022/2023 financial year ending June 2023, the State House spent Ksh.59.8 million, possibly on the initial works under President Ruto.