Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale is calling for the complete abolishment of the offices of the First Lady, Spouse of the Deputy President, Spouse of the Prime Cabinet Secretary, and county first ladies.
This follows President William Ruto’s announcement on Sunday that his government will adopt austerity measures after he declined to assent to the unpopular Finance Bill 2024 due to public uproar and deadly protests.
During a media roundtable at State House Nairobi, Ruto stated that the offices of his wife, Rachel Ruto, and Dorcas Rigathi, wife of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, will be removed from this year’s budget. Khalwale on Wednesday criticized these offices as a waste of public resources, labeling the Office of the First Lady unconstitutional and stating that it has unnecessarily consumed millions of shillings over the years.
“As if that is not enough, we have an office for the Deputy President’s wife and another for the wife of the Prime Cabinet Secretary and the same with governors,” Khalwale told the Senate.
“If I ascended to one of these offices, you would shake my family. Who among my first, second or third wife would be the First Lady? Those are private family issues that should never be brought to the public!”
Since 2022, Mrs. Ruto’s office has been engaged in initiatives focusing on religion and women’s economic empowerment through a strategy known as ‘faith diplomacy’. In parallel, Mrs. Rigathi has been actively involved in ‘boychild empowerment’ programs aimed at addressing youth affected by drug and substance abuse in Kenya.
For the 2024/2025 financial year starting in July, both offices received a total allocation of Ksh. 1.2 billion. Mrs. Ruto’s office was allocated Ksh. 696.6 million, while Mrs. Rigathi’s office received Ksh. 557.5 million.
In February of the previous year, Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi established an office for his wife Tessie Mudavadi to complement the work of the Office of the First Lady and the Office of the Spouse to the Deputy President. Mudavadi clarified that his wife’s office is not funded by taxpayers.
In response to the austerity measures announced by President Ruto, Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua has challenged him to reduce the Cabinet size from 21 to 14 Cabinet Secretaries.
“The Constitution states that the President can appoint 14-22 cabinet secretaries. Right now, we have 21. I call on the President, as a demonstration that he has listened to what the people say, to reduce the size of his Cabinet Secretaries from 21 to 14,” Wambua told the Senate.
He also called for a merge of State Departments and consequentially Principal Secretaries from 51 to 14.
