The controller of budget Margaret Nyakang’o has raised a red flag over excessive executive travel, with the national government blowing away Ksh.25 billion in local and foreign travel in the last financial year.
The expenses now come barely a year after the president promised to reduce the budget by 50 per cent in an effort to reduce wastage. Two years have passed since President William Ruto stood before Kenyans and declared that his administration would cut travel spending by Ksh.11 billion, promising that this would free up funds for development projects that would change lives.
“Tunapunguza pesa ya travel ya all government agencies by 50 per cent,” he said.
The promise was clear and bold, and Kenyans were hopeful that finally there would be a shift from endless spending on luxurious trips to real development projects like roads, schools and hospitals.
But the new report paints a completely different picture, one that exposes a government that is saying one thing and doing another. A year after making the first pledge, the president once again assured Kenyans that unnecessary trips would be cut to allow more funds to be used to close the budget deficit, especially after the Finance Bill 2024 faced strong resistance and was eventually shot down.
Yet, the auditor general’s report shows that nothing much has changed. The controller of budget revealed that between 1st July 2024 and 30th June 2025, the national government spent a staggering Ksh.25.46 billion on travel alone.
This reduction is just Ksh.1.7 billion, a drop in the ocean compared to the president’s promise of cutting Ksh.11 billion.
Margaret Nyakang’o did not mince her words, saying, “I still see elements of too much foreign travel in a sense that we are now encroaching on resources for development.” She warned that this reckless spending is holding back the country’s progress. “Our development budget reduced significantly,” she added, a statement that should alarm any Kenyan who has been promised better infrastructure and services.
State House even made an extra requisition of Ksh.5 billion under Article 223, which is meant for extraordinary circumstances, but the money was splashed on domestic travel, hospitality supplies and services, fuel expenses and vehicle maintenance.
Nyakang’o was clear that such spending comes at a cost. “These funds have to come from somewhere. So, either another vote is reduced or we must borrow, therefore by extension our indebtedness in terms of local or foreign borrowing is impacted,” she said.
The most popular destinations for top government officials remain Dubai, London, South Africa and the US, with no clear explanation on how these trips are helping ordinary Kenyans.
This growing pattern shows a government that is unwilling to live by its own words, preferring luxury trips over the development it promised.
For millions of Kenyans struggling with high cost of living, joblessness and poor public services, this feels like betrayal. The government’s repeated failure to cut waste is now hurting the very citizens it swore to serve.
