Gachagua’s Commercial Flight, Ruto’s 2nd Budget, & Directline Shut Down- The Roundup

One man, one suitcase! Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua sparked reactions from different quarters after boarding a commercial plane and carrying his own luggage.

Adding onto the week’s drama with the state was claims by the office of the 4^th President of Kenya that Ruto’s government was not funding its activities. Do you think Uhuru Kenyatta is being too entitled?

Hello and welcome to today’s edition of The Roundup

Top Stories of the Week

One Man, One Bag – Gachagua Flies with Commercial Plane, Carries Own Luggage

Deputy President (DP) Rigathi Gachagua became a topic of discussion on social media after he boarded a commercial Kenya Airways plane to Mombasa.

Gachagua was seen boarding the flight at JKIA carrying a blue suitcase and without his security detail.

However, this was not an isolated case as the DP has recently been using private choppers to attend official events instead of military aircrafts.

This comes amid reports of a fallout between Gachagua and President William Ruto and claims of mistreatment from his allies.

The second in command arrived late for the Akurino Annual Conference Prayer Conference 2024 and Madaraka Celebrations citing transport issues and adverse weather conditions.

However, National Assembly majority leader Kimani Ichung’wah explained that only President William Ruto and First Lady Mama Rachel Ruto are allowed to use military choppers.

Ichung’wah said the DP had been assigned a military chopper which was still under maintenance hence his decision to use private choppers.

The MP also said Gachagua had 14 bodyguards during his trip to Mombasa who could have helped him with his luggage.

President Ruto’s 2nd Budget Set to Establish Bottom-Up Economic Model

National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u on Thursday, June 13 read the budget for the financial year 2024/2025

He outlined various policy measures aimed at taming the public sector expenditures including curtailing spending across government.

The CS said government will stop public service employment for one year, suspend purchase of furniture, refurbishment and partitioning of government offices also for one year, rationalize all allocations for purchases of motor vehicles among others.

“There will be suspension of all new recruitment in the public sector for the next one year,” said CS Ndung’u.

Moreover, the 2024/25 budget is estimated to cost Sh3.91 trillion.

Of the amount, Sh1.58 trillion is meant for recurrent expenditure, Sh727.9 billion for development expenditure, Sh1.21 trillion for consolidated fund services and Sh400 billion for county equitable share.

President Ruto’s government seeks to reduce budget deficit to achieve a balanced budget by 2027.

Directline Shut Down, Fires All Staff

Royal Credit Chairperson S.K Macharia announced the abrupt closure of Directline Assurance, dissolved the board of directors and fired all employees.

Macharia said the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) closed Directline’s bank accounts adding that Royal Credit will take over the operations and properties of the insurer.

IRA however dismissed Macharia’s communication maintaining that the insurer’s operations continue as licensed and approved.

The Authority also declared the transfer of the insurer’s assets to Royal Credit as null and void.

IRA argued that it has the sole statutory mandate to approve, suspend or cancel the operations of any insurance company in Kenya.

Uhuru Kenyatta Claims Retirement Benefits

President Uhuru Kenyatta accused the government of failing to sponsor the activities and operation of his office.

The office of the third retired president through its spokesperson Kanze Dena said Uhuru has not received approximately Ksh1 billion in the last two years.

However, government’s spokesperson Isaac Mwaura clarified that the state pays the salaries of the retired president, his staff and their allowances.

Mwaura said the State also facilitates all travels of the president, both local and international, and maintains and fuels his vehicles.

Later on, State House Spokesperson Hussein Mohamed revealed that President William Ruto and his predecessor held a meeting and formed a team led by Head of Public Service Felix Koskei to iron out the issues raised by Kanze Dena.

Malawi Vice President Dies in Chopper Crash

Malawi’s Vice President Saulo’s Claus Chilima was confirmed dead on June11, 2024.

This is after the wreck of a plane carrying him and nine other top government officials including the country’s former first lady Shanil Dzimbiri was found with no survivors.

President Lazarus Chakwera while confirming the deaths explained that the aircraft had disappeared from airport radars on Monday, June 10.

“They have found it completely shattered, with no survivors as all passengers died on impact,” President Chakwera said.

Also Big the Week

1. A police officer shot a principal Magistrate at Makadara Law Courts during a live session after she denied issuing bond to his wife. The officer was shot dead as a result.
2. Government plans to roll out digital Identification system for livestock as part of efforts to ensure record keeping
3. Kenya Power and lighting company (KPLC) launches campaign to have all their customers update meters
4. Immigration Principal Secretary Julius Bitok announced that the government will now print National IDs within 24hours
5. Motorists to expect traffic disruption for the next two days along Mombasa Road as announced by KeNHA

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