Economist David Ndii, who works at State House as President William Ruto’s economic advisor on Thursday clashed with his colleagues on how resolutions from the Cabinet were being communicated.
Ndii flagged a report from the Presidential Communication Service (PCS) claiming that the Cabinet on Wednesday agreed to spend Ksh66 billion (EUR 400 million) on unbundling power transmission lines and an extra Ksh200 billion (EUR 1.2 billion) for a solar power project.
The economist further alleged that journalists employed at State House were not qualified to report financial figures.
“Kenyan journalists are atrocious at reporting figures even when they work for the government,” Ndii stated.
He added that even if the Kenya Kwanza administration wanted to loot public funds, they could not be as greedy as projected.
Ndii added that the Cabinet represented the figures in Shillings, but the presidential communications team misinterpreted the amount as Euros.
The Presidential economic advisor was put on a task to explain how a 42MW solar project could be built using Ksh1.2 billion according to his argument.
Ndii, in defence, remarked that PCS could have wholly misreported the Cabinet resolutions.
“If they got the currency wrong, why do you assume the rest is correctly reported?’ he stated.
Ruto, in January, replaced the Presidential Strategic Communication Unit (PSCU) with PCS, managed by nearly five top staffers.
Among them are Public Communications Secretary Munyori Buku, Digital and Innovations Secretary David Nzioka and Messaging Secretary Eric Ngeno.
Other members of PCS include Public Communications Director Wanjohi Githae and Branding and Events Secretary James Kinyua.
