[UAH] YEYII !!!!!! KIBAKI HAS A NEW OFFICE

Sh700 million for Kibaki’s new office

Posted  Saturday, June 15  2013 at  20:04

In Summary

• “What they had attempted to do, through the Supplementary Estimates which were tabled on Tuesday, is to reallocate CDF money to other activities, which included building an office (for) Sh700 million for retired President Kibaki among others,” an MP familiar with the matter said.

The Treasury has asked the National Assembly to approve the allocation of Sh700 million for the purchase of a building to house an office for retired President Mwai Kibaki, the Nation can reveal.

The allocation is contained in the Supplementary Budget estimates tabled in the National Assembly last Tuesday and whose approval is on the Order Paper for this coming Tuesday.

MPs are understood to have discovered the allocation as they questioned the failure by the Treasury to allocate the Sh5.4 billion Constituency Development Fund money for the remaining part of the 2012/2013 financial year.

“What they had attempted to do, through the Supplementary Estimates which were tabled on Tuesday, is to reallocate CDF money to other activities, which included building an office (for) Sh700 million for retired President Kibaki among others,” an MP familiar with the matter said.

He did not wish to be named because of the nature of the allocation and the fact that the matter is yet to be explained by the Treasury Cabinet Secretary, who is scheduled to meet the Budget and Appropriations Committee on Tuesday morning.

The allocation for the building is tucked under development expenditure for the Cabinet Office in the Supplementary Budget estimates books.

The Parliamentary Budget Office also noted the allocation of Sh700 million to the Cabinet Office to buy a building as among the salient issues in its report on the Supplementary estimates.

In the initial estimates for the 2012/2013 financial year, the Cabinet Office had asked for Sh160 million.

This figure grew to Sh860 million in the Supplementary Budget and the Sh700 million difference would be the allocation for the retired president’s office.

Headed by Secretary to the Cabinet Francis Kimemia, the Cabinet Office is charged with organising the affairs of the Cabinet such as meetings, the agenda and the implementation of its projects.

Its primary mandate is to organise and coordinate Government business.

Mr Kimemia told the Sunday Nation the allocation is necessary because under the Presidential Retirement Benefits Act President Kibaki assented to before his retirement, he is supposed to have an office and staff.

“He is supposed to have an office under the law. He is entitled to an office and staff, a full secretariat to manage his programmes the same way we did with former President Moi,” said Mr Kimemia on the phone.

“I thought you would say (Sh700 million) is too little. How much can you get a building for? We are set to buy him a building. We have to go to the market to advertise and we have got to pay staff and to buy him furniture because we don’t have a building yet.”

Mr Kimemia said the government has been looking for an office for the former president within Nairobi and all the available ones cost more than Sh1 billion.

When the former Prime Minister needed an office, the former coalition government acquired the then Shell/BP building at a cost of Sh700 million and then refurbished it.

It is now the office of the Deputy President and also has various other government agencies as tenants.

Mr Kimemia said the current allocation would be used to acquire the building, put in the security apparatus such as surveillance equipment plus purchasing the furniture and then to hire the staff the retired president needs as per the Act.

 

 

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