Ongoing renovations at State House, Nairobi, pictured on May 3, 2024.
State House Comptroller Katoo Ole Metito has defended the over Sh2 billion renovations at State House in Nairobi revealing that they were financed by the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and the Ministry of Defense budgetary allocations.
This is despite the Architectural Association of Kenya (AAK) raising concerns over the renovations on account that the changes compromise its architectural designs and historical and cultural significance.
Mr Ole Metito told the Administration and Internal Security Committee of the National Assembly that the renovations were necessary considering that the Nairobi State House had not been renovated for 117 years and that the Mombasa facility had been condemned.
“The renovations were serviced through the NIS and the Ministry Defense. They did it to make it look like a security area,” Mr Ole Metito told the committee chaired by Narok West MP Gabriel Tongoyo as he outlined the policy measures to justify the funding for the 2025/26 financial year.
State House, Nairobi before the renovations.
The State House Comptroller noted that although he had requested for Sh15 billion allocation for the next financial year, Sh7.5 billion, half of the requested amounts, had been provided for in the 2025 Budget Policy Statement (BPS) currently under consideration by the Administration and Internal Security Committee.
Sh6.8 billion
The proposed allocation, broken down, includes Sh6.8 billion in recurrent expenditure and Sh715.4 million.
State House falls under the Public Administration and International Relations (PAIR) sector in the budget-making process.
“This allocation is inadequate to facilitate the achievement of our strategic goals and objectives. State House, therefore, seeks consideration by this committee to enhance the 2025/26 ceiling by Sh3.3 billion to optimally deliver on its overall mandate,” said Mr Ole Metito.
But even as Mr Ole Metito defended the renovations and the need for increased allocation, Kisumu West MP Rozaah Buyu, a member of the committee, questioned the expenditures on State House renovations.
State House Comptroller Katoo Ole Metito.
“We are spending too much money beautifying the State House. If Kenyans are suffering because of the budget cuts, the State House should take the lead in tightening the belt,” said Ms Buyu adding; “we are not going to put money in the State House.”
Mr Ole Metito justified the renovations saying that either way they have to be undertaken to restore the country’s image and that the reduced allocations have made State House incur so much through supplementary budgets.
Early this month, the AAK, while acknowledging the need for renovations to maintain the building’s structural design, noted that the extent of works undertaken at State House has dented its historical significance.
Neo-classical design
State House, before the renovations, had the original neo-classical design by British architect Sir Herbert Baker in 1907.
“The design alterations have diminished the recognition of State House,” the AAK statement read.
However, Mr Ole Metito faulted the AAK assertions noting that the renovations have not diminished the face of the State House as originally designed.
“People are seeing the renovations from afar. If you go inside the building, we haven’t lost the historical and architectural designs as originally done,” said Mr Ole Metito but when questioned about the roof which has since changed to flat, he did not lack an explanation.
“The roof is not flat. The building is not yet complete,” said the Comptroller.
