Deputy President William Ruto’s fallout with his boss President Uhuru has seen his office experience budgetary cuts in the last 4 years.
For example, Ruto’s office, which is located at Harambee House Annex, saw its hospitality budget cut by KSh 174 million and its foreign travel budget cut by KSh 50 million in the 2020-2021 fiscal year.
Furthermore, the budget for international travel was reduced from KSh 83 million to KSh 33 million in the previous financial year, causing the front-runner in the 2022 presidential race to delve deeper into his pockets to cover operational costs for his office and presidential campaign.
William Ruto’s spokesperson Emmanuel Tallam on Wednesday June 15 confirmed that the budget to Ruto’s office has been slashed again.
“They stopped giving us money one and a half years ago. We do not understand why someone is denying the office of the DP money, yet the National Assembly has been approving the budget, and Treasury making the allocations. The DP has been using his private means to run his political activities,” he told the People Daily newspaper.
According to Tallam, the DP is no longer able to fly in State-owned helicopters or official cars allotted to him due to budget cuts.
Deputy William Ruto
Ruto has instead resorted to utilizing his personal cars and leased aircraft to bankroll his presidential campaigns in 2022, with only 50 days till the General Election on August 9th.
This comes just three months after Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani presented a supplementary budget to Parliament for the President and his deputy’s basic salaries and benefits. William Ruto’s base salary was reduced from KSh 41.2 million to KSh 36.4 million in the supplementary budget.
Also Read: Why President Uhuru’s Hand in Azimio is Giving Ruto Camp Sleepless Nights
