State House spent a staggering Sh1.074 billion on domestic travel in just nine months, raising serious questions about the government’s commitment to cutting public expenditure despite repeated promises to enforce austerity.

The details are laid bare in the National Government Budget Implementation Review Report released by Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o, covering the first nine months of the 2024/25 financial year—from July 2024 to March 2025.

The report shows that out of the total government expenditure of Sh1.2 trillion during the period, local travel consumed Sh11.6 billion across various ministries and offices.

The State House alone accounted for Sh1.074 billion of that domestic travel expenditure, a figure that has triggered widespread concern. President William Ruto’s office used Sh145.36 million for local travel, while the office of Deputy President Kithure Kindiki spent Sh196.22 million on domestic movement.

Other senior offices and departments under the executive made up the remaining hundreds of millions, pushing the total for State House travel to over a billion shillings within nine months.

This comes in the wake of a presidential promise to suspend non-essential government travel, made after youth-led protests on June 25 , 2024 forced Ruto to withdraw the controversial Finance Bill, 2024.

The bill had proposed heavy tax increases, sparking one of the most intense waves of public unrest in Kenya’s recent history.

"As part of his austerity pledge, the president suspended non-essential travel by public officers," the report notes, pointing to a directive that appears to have been ignored within the highest levels of government.

The revelations also come at a time when the president is facing mounting pressure to prove that the government is serious about reducing wasteful spending.

In his address after the protests, Ruto said he would propose Sh177 billion in spending cuts and raise Sh169 billion through additional borrowing to fill a Sh2.7 billion budget gap.

However, the travel figures presented in the Controller of Budget’s report suggest that the call for austerity has not been followed by firm action at State House.

For many Kenyans, already frustrated by high living costs and police brutality during protests, the report has added fuel to public anger and calls for accountability.

The report also highlights heavy travel expenses by other arms of government, including Parliament and the Senate, but the over Sh1 billion domestic travel bill linked directly to the presidency has become a central point of public concern.