The Controller of Budget (CoB) has warned that the national government budget spending has disregarded austerity measures.
In her nine-month expenditure report, the CoB said Parliament and State House continue to spend billions of shillings on both foreign and domestic travel, despite calls by President William Ruto to cut down on travel-related expenses.
The report, which covers national government spending for the nine-month period, shows that the government had used Ksh.3.4 trillion by March 2026. Of that amount, 85 percent, or Ksh.2.9 trillion, went to recurrent expenditure, while Ksh.507.9 billion supported development.
Despite the government’s repeated claims of austerity, the CoB report indicates that travel and hospitality spending has increased. Overall, the government spent Ksh.17.3 billion on domestic and foreign travel.
State House ranked among the top spenders on foreign travel, second only to the Foreign Affairs Department. It spent Ksh.1.3 billion on foreign travel and Ksh.69 million on local travel.
During the same period, the Office of the Deputy President spent Ksh.76 million on foreign travel and Ksh.222 million on domestic travel.
The CoB said the National Assembly spent Ksh.2.8 billion on foreign travel between July 2025 and March 2026, while it spent Ksh.1.5 billion on domestic travel over the same period.
Senators, meanwhile, spent Ksh.1 billion on local travel and Ksh.815 million on foreign travel.
The Controller of Budget also flagged hospitality spending across the entire national government, including Parliament and the Judiciary, which totaled Ksh. 4.9 billion. That figure represented a 33 percent increase from the same period the previous year, when Ksh.3.7 billion had been spent on hospitality. During the period under review, Parliament spent Ksh.283 million on hospitality.
State House, the Office of the Deputy President, and the Executive Office of the President collectively spent Ksh.703 million over the nine months.
