State House received Sh3.6bn for fuel, travel within 42 days from Treasury

State House received Sh3.6 billion in the less than two months to the end of the last financial year. This has been revealed by a report by the Controller of Budget (CoB) Margaret Nyakang’o.

According to the report, the National Treasury released the amount between May 14, 2025 and June 24, 2025. The money was released was allegedly designated as money to facilitate fuel, travels and hospitality. According to the report, Dr. Nyakang’o had approved Sh2.3 billion out of the Sh3.6 billion that was sent to State House.

The report observed that on May 14, the cabinet secretary for the National Treasury John Mbadi approved the withdrawal of Sh1.5 billion. These funds were billed as the cover for shortfalls in domestic travels, hospitality supplies, fuel and maintenance of vehicles.

On May 15, Dr. Nyakang’o authorized the withdrawal of Sh358.16 million. On May 21, Sh263.46 million was approved while on May 27, Sh626.5 million was approved. State House then received an additional Sh250 million on May 28.

The report further shows that on June 13, CS Mbadi approved Sh850 million to be used on what was termed as shortfalls under the areas of expenditure for domestic travel, hospitality supplies and services, fuel expenses and maintenance of motor vehicles. However, Dr. Nyakang’o only approved Sh738 million out of these funds.

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On May 15, the report states that CS Mbadi approved the withdrawal of some Sh1.25 billion from the Consolidated Fund. However, there was no expenditure request that was forwarded to Dr. Nyakang’o for approval. In total, in the full financial year that ended on June 30, 2025, some Sh17.4 billion was spent without the Dr. Nyakang’o’s approval.

“Scrutiny of the approvals revealed several instances where additional funding was needed to support existing government programmes, which should have been anticipated during the budget formulation,” the report stated.

“Reliance on Article 223 to implement existing government programmes or initiatives breaches paragraph 40 (4) of the PFM (National Government) Regulations, 2015 and suggests potential lapses in the budget formulation process and/or weaknesses in the budgeting cycle.”