A nation’s budget is a mirror of its conscience. Today, Kenya’s conscience is being tested most disturbingly. The proposed rise in spending at State House Nairobi from KES 7.7 billion to KES 16.1 billion is not merely a budget adjustment. It is a moral failure unfolding in full public view. At a time when hospitals lack equipment, medicines, and even functioning machines, doubling the cost of running the presidency is an insult to millions of struggling Kenyans.
This increase represents over KES 8.4 billion in additional spending. That is not small change. That is money collected from ordinary citizens through taxes — from boda boda riders buying fuel, from small businesses paying VAT, from workers struggling with PAYE deductions. Every shilling in that budget belongs to the Kenyan people, yet it is being directed toward executive comfort while critical public services collapse.
Consider what this money could actually do for the country. A modern cancer radiotherapy machine costs roughly KES 350–450 million. The additional KES 8.4 billion proposed for State House could purchase more than 20 advanced radiotherapy machines. With that equipment, Kenya could dramatically reduce cancer treatment waiting lists and expand care beyond Nairobi to counties where patients currently have no access to specialised treatment.
Cancer patients today travel hundreds of kilometres to seek treatment at facilities like Kenyatta National Hospital. Many arrive only to find long queues, broken machines, or unavailable treatment slots. Some sell land, others organise desperate fundraisers, while families drain their life savings to keep loved ones alive. Meanwhile, billions are being channelled into the operations of political offices.
The proposed spending breakdown reveals the extent of the excess. Domestic travel is expected to jump from KES 376 million to KES 2 billion. Hospitality spending will rise from KES 338 million to KES 1.6 billion. Fuel allocations will grow from KES 191 million to KES 600 million, while vehicle maintenance will surge from KES 136 million to KES 530 million. These are not essential services for citizens fighting disease, unemployment, and economic hardship.
Even the allocation for new vehicles rises from KES 6.9 million to KES 141 million. That single adjustment could finance life-saving diagnostic equipment such as CT scanners or dialysis machines in regional hospitals. Yet instead of strengthening healthcare infrastructure, the money is being redirected toward expanding the lifestyle and operations of political power.
Public budgets are about choices. Every shilling spent in one place means a shilling not spent somewhere else. When billions are directed toward the presidency while hospitals lack medicines and life-saving equipment, the message becomes painfully clear: the comfort of power is being prioritised over the survival of citizens.
Kenya cannot afford this level of excess. The presidency must not become the most expensive institution in the country while the healthcare system struggles to function. Leadership demands restraint, responsibility, and an understanding that public resources exist to serve citizens first.
This is why Parliament must intervene. Members of Parliament hold the constitutional responsibility to scrutinise budgets and protect public funds. They must reject this dramatic expansion of State House spending and cap the allocation at a maximum of KES 5 billion. Anything beyond that level becomes difficult to justify in a country facing serious economic and healthcare challenges.
Cutting the budget to KES 5 billion would free billions of shillings that could immediately be redirected to healthcare, cancer treatment programmes, medical equipment procurement, and medicine supply chains across the country. That money could fund oncology centres, purchase radiotherapy machines, and support thousands of patients who currently face delayed treatment.
Kenyans must therefore refuse to remain silent. Public money belongs to the people, and citizens have the right — and the responsibility — to demand accountability. Parliament must hear clearly from the public that this budget increase is unacceptable.
This is the moment for Kenyans to speak with one voice.
Call your Member of Parliament. Write to them. Demand that they reject the excess and protect the nation’s resources. Public pressure is often the only force strong enough to stop the misuse of public funds.
The country cannot continue down a path where billions flow easily to political offices while hospitals struggle to keep machines running and patients are turned away from treatment.
Kenya deserves leadership that values human life more than executive luxury.
The message to Parliament must therefore be simple, clear, and uncompromising:
Slash the State House budget. Cap it at KES 5 billion. Redirect the rest to healthcare and life-saving services.
Because no government should live in comfort while its citizens die waiting for treatment.
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