The Presidency, which comprises the offices of the President and the Deputy President, spent Sh174.7 million on domestic travel and Sh19 million on foreign trips in the first quarter of the year.
The expenditure is an increase on the Sh138.3 million the presidency spent on travel in the same period the previous year.
The Jubilee government early in 2014 announced a tight austerity programme.
President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy, William Ruto, splashed Sh193 million on travel in the three months to September or 40 per cent more compared to same period last year, highlighting the use of public resources in last year’s General Election.
Data from the Controller of Budget (CoB) shows the Presidency, which comprises the offices of the President and the Deputy President, spent Sh174.7 million on domestic travel and Sh19 million on foreign trips in the first quarter of the year.
The expenditure is an increase on the Sh138.3 million the presidency spent on travel in the same period the previous year.
Other top spenders during the period that coincided with the electioneering period were the Parliamentary Service Commission at Sh176.7 million and the National Assembly at Sh434.2 million.
“Expenditure on domestic travel for state ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) was also among the highest at Sh1.3 billion,” said the CoB, Agnes Odhiambo.
Mr Kenyatta stepped up campaigning for the August 8 election, underlined by the sharp rise in the domestic travel spending during the quarter.
Taxpayers paid Sh147 million less on domestic travel in the year, compared to the Sh1.4 billion the previous year, an indication that austerity measures undertaken by the government are beginning to bear fruits.
Expenditure on foreign travel for the 50 MDAs dropped 68 per cent to Sh655 million compared to the Sh2.1 billion spent a year prior.
The Treasury directed accounting officers in all ministries to cut non-essential budget such as conferencing, travel and motor vehicle maintenance to the bare minimum in efforts to free funds for projects in a business environment where State income was trailing targets.
The Treasury had directed that spending on non-essential items should be cut by up to 30 per cent.
In the recent past, Treasury has struggled to implement austerity measures prompted by underperformance in revenue collection amid rising expenditure.
The Jubilee government early in 2014 announced a tight austerity programme.
