The National Assembly has pushed back against a proposal by Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi to secure Sh280 million for refurbishing his office, with lawmakers questioning both the timing and justification of the expenditure amid growing calls for fiscal restraint.
The request was presented before the National Assembly Committee on Administration and Internal Security as part of the Supplementary Estimates I for the 2025/2026 financial year.
Officials from the Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary (OPCS) defended the allocation, citing security concerns and deteriorating office conditions.
Principal Administrative Secretary Joash Dache told the committee that the funds were intended to address security gaps flagged by the National Intelligence Service (NIS).
He also argued that the office space, located in a leased facility at Kenya Railways Headquarters, was in poor condition and required urgent upgrades.
“We inherited a condemned building. It is the responsibility of a landlord to ensure that premises are habitable,” Dache said, adding that the refurbishment would help bring the offices up to acceptable operational standards.
However, members of the committee expressed scepticism over the justification, particularly in the absence of a supporting intelligence report to substantiate the alleged security risks.
The lack of documentation drew sharp criticism, with MPs accusing the OPCS of attempting to misuse the supplementary budget process.
Saku MP Dido Rasso, who serves as the committee’s vice chair, questioned the classification of the expenditure as urgent.
“How does this qualify as an emergency for the taxpayer?” he posed, signalling concerns about whether the request met the threshold for supplementary funding.
Homa Bay Town MP Peter Kaluma went further, describing the proposal as an abuse of the budget framework.
He argued that such expenditure should have been planned and included in the main budget cycle rather than introduced through supplementary estimates.
“Approving this allocation would significantly inflate the OPCS budget and undermine fiscal discipline,” Kaluma warned, noting that the request could increase the office’s budget by more than 70 percent.
The pushback also reflects broader tensions between Parliament and the Executive over adherence to budgetary guidelines.
The National Assembly’s Budget and Appropriations Committee had earlier recommended against additional allocations to the OPCS in the 2026 Budget Policy Statement (BPS), directing that no further public funds be used for refurbishments or structural changes in leased premises.
Lawmakers questioned why significant public resources were being directed towards upgrading a rented facility, especially at a time when the government has been urging austerity and prudent use of taxpayer funds.
Since 2023, when Mudavadi assumed office as Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, the OPCS has already spent Sh363 million on renovations.
The office is now projected to receive a recurrent budget of Sh827 million for the 2026/2027 financial year, with no allocation for capital expenditure.
While the committee acknowledged that the revised budget sought to restore funding for core operational needs such as salaries, rent, and administrative services, it warned that the scale of the proposed increase pointed to weaknesses in executive budget planning.
“The large increase exposes gaps in resource allocation and planning,” MPs noted, raising concerns about accountability and prioritisation within government spending.
The committee is expected to make its recommendations as scrutiny of the supplementary estimates continues, with lawmakers signalling a firm stance on enforcing fiscal discipline across government offices.