President Uhuru Kenyatta and Treasury CS Ukur Yattani have been thrown into the limelight once again over the expenditure of both levels of government.
According to Daily Nation, which quoted a report from the Office of the Controller of Budget (OCOB), despite the government spending Ksh571 billion in the first three months of this financial year, just a mere Ksh48 billion went to development expenditure.
An analysis of the same showed that for every Ksh100 spent only Ksh10 was spent on development, which was 10 per cent, way below the recommended 30 per cent.
Yattani was also further put on the spot, because the measures he had put in place in 2019 to try and reduce government spending did little.
His strategy was aimed at freeing up resources to be channelled into development projects and sparing taxpayers the burden of using 90 per cent of tax revenues in paying civil servants, buying office supplies, fueling cars and funding trips.
Top in the measures put by Yattani was a blanket freeze on foreign travels and limits to government training.
Despite the freeze on foreign travel, public officers still blew a whooping Ksh3.5 billion on trips both abroad and local.
This made it the third-largest recurrent expenditure item at the national government after salaries, and cash transfers to semi-autonomous government agencies (SAGAs) which consumed Ksh91.3 billion.
The Budget Implementation Review Report which was prepared by the former acting Controller of Budget Stephen Masha noted that domestic travel cost Ksh2.2 billion followed by foreign travel at Ksh1.4 billion.
Expenditure on rental rates of non-residential buildings at the cost Ksh828.7 million came fourth and Ksh806.1 million on hospitality followed.
