Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua on Sunday, March 12, claimed that President William Ruto funded his office for four years while he was deputy president.
Speaking at a media round table, the second in command said that Ruto fueled GK cars and bought tea for his office for four years due to strained relations with his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta.
“Ukur Yatani former CS and Kinuthia Mbugua (former State House Controller) cut all funds to Ruto’s office. For four years he fueled GK cars, paid electricity bills, and allowances to staff accompanying him,” Gachagua said.
The deputy president alleged that former Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani and ex-State House Comptroller Kinuthia Mbugua cut off all funding to DP Ruto’s office at the direction of retired President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Gachagua was responding to reports made by the former Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani that he was asked to release funds under special circumstances without parliament approval to the DP’s office.
However, a fact-check by local media has revealed that the deputy president who has been on record boosting being a ‘truthful man’ lied that William Ruto funded his office during his last four years as the second in command.
For instance, according to the salaries, allowances, and miscellaneous budget performance for the financial year 2021/2022, the office of the president and that of the deputy president fully utilized KSh 19.8 million and KSh 16.83 million respectively translating to 100 percent uptake of the allocation.
Further, according to the budget execution by the programs for the public administration and international relations sector, the office of the deputy president services received KSh 1.5 billion and spent KSh 1.46 billion translating to a budget absorption of 97.1 percent implying that the office utilized KSh 97 out of the KSh 100 allocated.
