Gov’t Slashes Retired President Mwai Kibaki’s Staff, Car Maintenance Budget to Sh87 Million

Retired President Mwai Kibaki has had his staff, catering and car maintenance costs for the next financial year trimmed to Sh87 million.

The National Treasury cut the budget allocated to the office of former president in the ongoing attempt to ease taxpayers’ burden of keeping the ex-head of states comfortable.

Salaries for those working in Kibaki’s office has been slashed to Sh53 million for the next financial year, down from Sh72.7 million allocated in the current year. 

Further, the budget for catering and vehicle maintenance costs for the ex-president have been cut by Sh1 million each, budget estimates show.

However, the budget set aside for his foreign travel expenses has nearly tripled to Sh5.3 million in a budget review that will lead to overall savings of Sh15.4 million. 

This means the overall budget for Kibaki’s office will go down from Sh102 million in the current year, to Sh85 million in the coming, reflecting a 15 per cent cut.

The office budget is one on the benefits enjoyed by retired presidents — Daniel arap Moi and Kibaki. They are also offered a generous monthly pension.

In the coming year, the two have been allocated a combined annual pension of Sh96.5 million, with each pocketing approximately Sh4.65 million per month. This amount is more than three times the Sh1.2 million that President Kenyatta earns monthly.

The two are also entitled to a Sh379,500 house allowance and Sh247,500 fuel allowance on top of entertainment (Sh247,500) and utilities (Sh379,500) per month.