Public spending habits in Kenya reveal a lot about the priorities of the national government, starting with President Ruto, whose salary is twenty times higher than what the average Kenyan earns. There is evidence that extravagance and public wastage through travels, vehicle purchases, huge salaries, and hospitality cuts across government departments and ministries, significantly burdening taxpayers.
As a result, ordinary Kenyans who have to pay for and bankroll the lavish lifestyles of these politicians and public officials have become increasingly livid, and calls for an end to this extravagance are growing increasingly louder. As budgets tighten and the need to prioritise development increases, the question remains: are these expenses justified, or do they reflect a culture of excess that Kenyans cannot afford?
Huge salaries bleeding Kenya dry
First, there is no better demonstration of a culture of extravagance in Kenya than the salaries we pay top officials. President Ruto’s salary is a stark example of the culture of extravagance in Kenya’s public sector. Although his annual pay of Ksh 17,325,000 ($126,000) in 2023 might seem modest in absolute terms compared to global counterparts, it is, in fact, the highest in the world when adjusted for GDP per capita. For context, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, the highest-earning politician globally, makes $1,684,284, followed by Switzerland’s Viola Amherd with $572,165. Meanwhile, Kenya’s GDP per capita in 2023 was only $6,300. This makes Ruto’s salary more than 20 times the GDP per capita.
What this tells us is that, for a smaller economy like Kenya that aspires to be like Singapore, the president’s salary is a bigger bill to the taxpayer than it is in other countries. The president’s salary is a reflection of wages in the public sector and a much bigger problem with the wage bill, whereby salaries account for 37% of expenditure by ministries and government departments. Furthermore, expenditure on salaries increased by 55.1% from Ksh 268.4 billion in 2014 to Ksh 597.9 billion in 2024. An ever-increasing expenditure on salaries and debt means budget constraints limit development expenditure. The government is then pushed to raise funding through alternative means like Public Private Partnerships. For instance, this pressure on the budget has driven the adoption of PPPs from 7 in 2021 to 37 in 2024, including the controversial JKIA expansion project, set to be taken over by Adani for 30 years.
The price of Kenya’s public sector travel obsession
Kenyan politicians and public servants enjoy substantial salaries, along with other benefits, most of which are not available for elected officials in other countries. Even when available, countries provide them in moderation or only when necessary. In Kenya, however, taxpayers have to shoulder and facilitate the travel spending for these public servants and elected officials. There is no evidence that these travels directly benefit taxpayers. Further, the wastage through travel has become so big that the government, albeit in futility, has tried limiting foreign travel several times in the past decade.
The Controller of Budget report showed that the national government spent Ksh 9.2 billion on foreign travel in FY 2023/2024, a 57% increase compared to 2014 when expenditure was Ksh 4 billion. The most expensive destination was the United States, with officials spending a total of 179.6 million, followed by Tanzania at Ksh 122.9 million, Italy at Ksh 107.1 million, and the United Arab Emirates at Ksh 106 million. The most spending ministry, department and agency (MDA) on foreign travel was the State Department of Foreign Affairs, spending 3.3 billion; the Senate (614.9 million), Diaspora Affairs (484.3 million), Parliamentary Joint Services (463 million), State House (298.2 million), and Judiciary 203.5 million. While foreign travel is sometimes unavoidable, the conspicuous spending while on these travels is often a conduit for extravagance and corruption, often with negative optics as was the case when President Ruto hired a $1.5 million jet to the United States or the fact that he has made 68 trips abroad from the day he assumed office to 22nd September 2024.
Expenditure on domestic travel was also high, with the national government spending Ksh 18.2 billion in FY 2023/2024, a 78.6% increase compared to 2014, when spending was Ksh 3.9 billion.[10] While domestic travel is expected in government departments, there is evidence that this expenditure is heavily concentrated within government departments where travel is not necessary. The top three government departments with the highest spending on domestic travel were The Judiciary, the State House, and the Senate. Domestic travel by the president cost the taxpayer Ksh 1.3 billion, while senators and the deputy president cost us Ksh 1.2 billion and Ksh 538.4 million, respectively. Overall, 21.4% of the total national government expenditure on domestic travel went toward facilitating travel in these three departments.
Public service or public splurge: the true cost of government hospitality
Other than travel, public officials depend on the exchequer for other facilitations such as hospitality -spending on catering services procured when state officers hold meetings outside their offices, entertainment, and daily subsistence allowance during travel. In 2023, the national government spent Ksh 7.6 billion on hospitality, with the largest spenders being the State House (Ksh 1.2 billion), the Office of the Deputy President (Ksh 746 million), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Ksh 614.8 million), and the Judiciary (Ksh 557 million).[14] Despite promising spending cuts on numerous occasions, the President and the Deputy President lead at the forefront of extravagance, pushing the culture of extravagance forward.
Wastage and the hidden costs of new motor vehicle purchases
Another expense under operations that reflects this persistent culture of wastage is the purchase of new vehicles by both levels of government. According to the Controller of Budget, the national government spent Ksh 2.6 billion on the purchase of new vehicles in the Financial Year 2023/2024, with the biggest spender being The Office of the President (Ksh 548.2 million), the Judiciary (Ksh 257.6 million), and the State Department for Mining (Ksh 224.2 million).[16] The purchase of new cars by the President and the Judiciary accounted for 30.7% of the total government spending on new vehicles.
Vehicle purchases come with additional expenses such as insurance, maintenance, and fuel costs. For instance, in 2023, when Ksh 2.6 billion was spent on purchasing vehicles, the government also spent Ksh 1.99 billion on maintenance, Ksh 3.4 billion on fuel and lubricants, and Ksh 20.4 billion on insurance. Cumulatively, keeping all government vehicles on the road is a heavy and unsustainable financial burden to the taxpayer.
All this spending across Kenya’s government—on salaries, travel, hospitality, and vehicle purchases—creates challenges in funding key development projects, especially as debt servicing reaches 40.8% of national expenditure, totaling Ksh 1.6 trillion in FY 2023/2024. This culture of excess is unsustainable, and it puts a significant strain on taxpayers while diverting resources away from essential public services. As financial pressures mount, a shift toward more prudent resource management is essential moving forward.
This story was written by Kelvin Ndiritu and Felix Kiprono for Odipo Dev, with support from Africa Data Hub.
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