The government requested over half a billion to fund ODM leader Raila Odinga’s bid for the chairmanship of the African Union Commission (AUC), the Controller of Budget (CoB) has revealed.
In the National Government Budget Implementation Review Report for the Financial Year 2024/2025, CoB Margaret Nyakang’o disclosed that the State Department for Foreign Affairs had been allocated Ksh523.8 million by the National Treasury in November 2024 to facilitate campaigns for Raila’s AUC bid.
However, out of this, Nyakang’o approved Ksh216.2 million from the requisitioned amount in February this year. The difference in dates reflects the distinct roles of these two offices in Kenya's financial management.
While the Treasury CS, currently John Mbadi, is responsible for the overall financial management of the national government, including approving expenditures, the CoB is mandated by the Constitution to oversee the implementation of national and county governments' budgets by approving withdrawals from public funds.
As such, even after CS Mbadi’s approval, Nyakang’o holds the final keys as the actual release of funds from the Consolidated Fund requires her explicit approval.
Further, the "requisitioned amount" refers to the funds that the State Department for Foreign Affairs requested from the CoB to be withdrawn from the Consolidated Fund after the Treasury CS approved the allocation.
In the instance of Raila's AUC bid, the CS Treasury approved Ksh 523,843,745, but CoB later approved a portion of that, Ksh 216,275,405, as the amount requisitioned and approved by COB.
During the AUC contest, Raila was defeated by Djibouti's Foreign Minister Mahamoud Ali Youssouf despite exuding confidence of a landslide victory.
This was especially after Kenya deployed a large campaign team, including President Ruto and over 100 Members of Parliament at the AUC summit in Addis Ababa in January 2025.
In the aftermath of the failed bid, heightened scrutiny was levelled at the budget of the campaign with Juja MP George Koimburi claiming the government had spent Ksh13 billion of taxpayers’ money in Raila’s campaigns.
However, while addressing the loss for the first time, Raila refuted claims that the government spent Ksh13 billion on his campaigns in the lead-up to the AUC elections.
"I have seen somebody talking about Ksh13 billion that was spent on the campaign. I don't know which world these guys live in and whether they know what a billion means," he said.
The former Prime Minister further clarified that the government only intervened to provide transport to and from the countries which he toured.
