Oparanya and Kinyanjui offices rescued after Sh200 million allocation

A funding gap in two Cabinet Secretaries’ offices has forced Parliament to step in with an extra Sh200 million after it emerged that their day-to-day operations had no budget support for the coming financial year starting July 2026.

The National Assembly Departmental Committee on Trade, Industry and Cooperatives has now backed Sh100 million for the State Department for Cooperatives, which supports the office of Wycliffe Oparanya, after he requested Sh200 million for running expenses linked to his office operations.

At the same time, the committee has set aside another Sh100 million for the State Department for Trade to facilitate the running of the office of Lee Kinyanjui, though the exact amount his office had originally asked for was not stated.

Lawmakers noted that the allocations fall under General Administration and are meant to cover operations and maintenance, after it was discovered that both offices had been left without any funding for routine activities.

These costs include basic office needs such as transport, fuel, utilities, travel, office upkeep, hospitality and other daily requirements that keep government offices running.

In its report, the committee chaired by Benard Shinali stated, “The Office of the Cabinet Secretary has no budgetary allocation. The funds are to cater for the operations and maintenance of the Office,” highlighting the gap that triggered the intervention.

The decision has drawn attention to how budget planning gaps have affected government offices, even as ministries face stricter spending limits and pressure to cut costs.

The issue came to light after Oparanya appeared before the committee on May 21, where he raised concern that his office was unable to function normally due to lack of funds.

“I have to come here all the time to get money for my office’s operations,” he told MPs.

He also questioned the status of his office in government, adding, “I don’t know if my office is recognised as one of the offices of CS in this government or not,” while appealing for Sh200 million to keep operations running.

Oparanya further explained that he had been relying on Principal Secretaries in his ministry to finance official movement and engagements since they control spending approvals as accounting officers.

“When I go out, I’m stuck out there, there’s no fuel, and I have to call any of them because they’re accounting officers,” he said.

“So I don’t want to continue being a beggar from my juniors.”

Earlier proposals had also included Sh50 million for refurbishment of Oparanya’s office, including furniture upgrades such as an orthopaedic executive chair, sofa sets and carpets.