Nairobi, July 7 - President William Ruto has defended the ongoing construction of a Ksh 1.2 Billion church at State House, saying the project is being financed from his own resources and that he owes no one an apology for it.
Speaking at State House, Ruto affirmed his personal commitment to faith and dismissed criticism surrounding the initiative, which has attracted intense public backlash.
"Mimi ni mtu naamini kwa Mungu, and I have no apologies to make. Kwa kujenga kanisa, I have no apology, na hakuna mtu nitaomba msamaha," Ruto said.
( I believe in God and I have no apologies to make for constructing a church in State House. I will not apologise to anyone for the church project)
He confirmed that the church is indeed being built within the State House compound and acknowledged that the development had attracted media attention.
Brushing off concerns raised in the press, he said, "Naambiwa ati mpaka kwa gazeti leo kuna mtu anasema ninajenga kanisa hapa"
Ruto maintained that building a place of worship within the official presidential residence is both a personal choice and an expression of his beliefs.
"Nimeamua nijenge kanisa inatoshana na State House na haitagarimu serikali ya Kenya peni moja. Nitajenga kwa sababu kanisa ya Mungu ni pahali inatoshana heshima."
(I have decided to construct a church worth the standards of State House and will not cost the government a penny. I will finance it because the church of God should be a respectable place)
The president's remark came after a media report revealed that he is constructing a chapel worth Sh1.2 billion at State House, attracting public backlash and scrutiny over financing.
This revelation, comes at a time when kenya's Executive Office of the President and State House are slated to receive substantial budgetary allocations for renovations and refurbishment in the upcoming 2025/26 fiscal year, a move that has ignited public debate.
The expenditure, revealed in a recent National Treasury breakdown, stands in contrast to the government’s stated commitment to fiscal austerity and the reduction of non-essential spending.
Despite calls for belt-tightening, the State House Nairobi and its associated lodges across the country are positioned to expend a significant portion of a Sh2.3 billion allocation on a comprehensive program of upgrades and maintenance.
Specifically, Sh894.9 million has been earmarked for rehabilitation efforts at State House Nairobi and other official residences.
Concurrently, the Office of the President is set to experience a dramatic expansion in its development budget, skyrocketing nearly 300-fold from the current financial year’s Sh50 million to a proposed Sh1.46 billion.
This substantial funding surge, which encompasses renovation projects at Harambee House and the refurbishment of the Government Press, appears to contradict earlier assurances from the Kenya Kwanza administration of disciplined fiscal management in the wake of revenue shortfalls and reduced external funding.
The financial commitment to the presidential estate comes at a time when the government faces mounting pressure to adopt a leaner budget. Initial Treasury projections had placed government spending at Sh4.3 trillion. However, the Cabinet recently indicated that significant revisions would be necessary to align with lower revenue expectations.
The government’s stated objective is to reduce the fiscal deficit to 2.7 percent while simultaneously avoiding further tax increases, necessitating deep expenditure cuts across various sectors. This backdrop makes the augmented allocation for State House renovations particularly conspicuous.
The latest budget allocation follows a previously controversial refurbishment of State House Nairobi, which involved significant alterations to its colonial architectural design.
The makeover, including modifications to the roofing structure, elicited mixed reactions from the public and professional bodies, including the Architectural Association of Kenya (AAK). Prior to the current allocation, funding responsibility for State House renovations had been shifted to the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and the Ministry of Defence.
In a previous budget cycle, the National Treasury initially set aside Sh1.5 billion for refurbishment works before withdrawing financial support due to public criticism and fiscal constraints.
This rollback occurred amid mounting frustration over perceived excessive government spending, particularly in the wake of widespread youth-led protests that compelled the administration to abandon proposed tax increases under the Finance Bill 2024.
Despite earlier reassurances, the National Treasury has reinstated Sh894.9 million for further facelift projects, with Sh680.7 million specifically designated for general maintenance at State House Nairobi.
The National Treasury has justified the renewed expenditure by stating that the renovations are essential in supporting the President’s constitutional mandate.
