Funding for the Controller of Budget has been slashed by Sh70 million in the third supplementary budget for the financial year ending June 30, cutting its allocation from Sh702.3 million to Sh632.3 million.

This 9.97 percent reduction comes just months after Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o raised concern over underfunding, which she said was already hurting the office’s ability to carry out key operations such as monitoring, evaluation, report writing, training, and local travel.

The latest budget cuts were contained in the third supplementary estimates tabled by the National Treasury last Wednesday, barely a week before the financial year closes. The revised estimates reflect broader reductions across many items, although a few areas registered slight increases.

Within the Controller of Budget’s allocation, administrative support services have been cut by Sh36.4 million, while county services were reduced by Sh33.6 million. Salaries for permanent staff will drop by Sh54 million to Sh173.8 million, and allowances will be reduced by Sh16 million to Sh89.8 million.

Other affected areas include printing and advertising (down Sh3.3 million), purchase of specialised equipment (down Sh4 million), pensions and retirement benefits (down Sh2.04 million), and other operating expenses (cut by Sh420,000).

Despite these wide-ranging reductions, a few line items received slight increases.

These include communications and travel, each up by Sh1.5 million, training which rose by Sh3.1 million, and hospitality supplies which increased by Sh1.2 million.

In March, Dr Nyakang’o protested a separate budget allocation of Sh850 million for the upcoming 2025–2026 financial year, far below the Sh1.63 billion she had requested.

She warned that such underfunding could cripple the office’s operations.

“We have a lean budget and are only surviving because of keeping expenses at the bare minimum,” she told the Senate Finance and Budget Committee on March 11, 2025.