Kindiki’s Office Overshoots Budget By 50pc After Spending Sh1.1bn In Just Three Months

Kenya’s push for fiscal discipline has suffered a fresh setback after new Treasury data revealed that Deputy President Kithure Kindiki’s office overshot its recurrent budget by nearly half in the first quarter of the financial year, spending Sh1.11 billion against a ceiling of Sh743 million.

The revelation comes amid wider concerns over runaway expenditure across key security and governance institutions, piling pressure on President William Ruto’s administration as it struggles to contain a widening budget deficit projected at Sh901 billion this year.

According to the latest figures, Kindiki’s office is among several powerful departments whose recurrent spending blew past approved allocations between July and September, raising questions over internal controls and the effectiveness of the government’s ongoing fiscal consolidation drive.

The overspending mirrors an even larger breach at State House, which spent Sh4.32 billion against an approved quarterly limit of Sh1.92 billion, exceeding its allocation by 125 percent.

It is the sharpest deviation recorded across all national government departments, despite repeated assurances from the administration that it intends to curb wastage and restore spending discipline.

The strain is most visible in security-related institutions. The National Police Service used Sh36.94 billion—Sh5.59 billion above its target—while the Internal Security and National Administration department spent Sh13.99 billion against an allocation of Sh7.97 billion. The National Intelligence Service also shot past its ceiling after consuming Sh17.96 billion instead of the planned Sh12.86 billion.

Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi, in the 2025 Budget Review and Outlook Paper published in September, insisted the government remains committed to tightening public finances. He said the 2026/27 fiscal year would mark deeper implementation of procurement digitisation, payroll reforms, rationalised pension administration and stricter management of State corporations.

But the first-quarter numbers suggest that politically sensitive and security-heavy dockets continue to operate outside those parameters. Analysts warn that such breaches risk deepening the country’s debt burden, as the exchequer is forced to borrow more to plug recurrent shortfalls.

The State Department for Social Protection and Senior Citizens Affairs also exceeded its recurrent budget after releasing Sh14.09 billion against a Sh7.28 billion allocation, reflecting heavier cash transfers to vulnerable households and rising administrative costs. Basic Education spent Sh29.21 billion against the Sh27.36 billion planned, tied to the ongoing rollout of the Competency-Based Curriculum.

Kenya’s constitution allows limited flexibility, permitting spending of up to 10 percent above allocations under Article 223. However, the scale of the overruns—many multiples beyond the allowable threshold—means the Treasury must seek parliamentary approval through a supplementary budget.

A mini-budget was tabled last month and is awaiting debate, but Public Finance Management regulations bar MPs from approving adjustments that exceed 10 percent unless the expenditure addresses “unforeseen and unavoidable” needs.

The latest spending patterns now place Parliament in a delicate political bind: endorse the overruns and weaken fiscal discipline further, or reject them and risk paralysing operations in some of the most sensitive arms of government.

Either way, Kindiki’s 50 percent budget breach has intensified scrutiny on an administration still struggling to match its austerity rhetoric with the realities of its own books.