Lawmakers challenge sh2.1b allocation to Govt Chief Whip’s office

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Government Chief Whip Dennis Hamson Obua’s budget came under fire on Tuesday, April 1, after it emerged that the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) had earmarked sh2.148 billion for his office in the 2025/26 financial year.

This prompted Abubakar Kawalya (Rubaga North, NUP) to question the allocation, given that Obua’s office is already funded by Parliament.

“We all believe that the leader of government business is the Prime Minister. When you look at the money allocated to the Government Chief Whip, who happens to be a Member of Parliament and sits at Parliament, it is too much. We also need to be guided and need justification for this allocation. We have been raising this issue every time we go through these budgeting processes, but we have never received a concrete explanation,” Kawalya argued.

“When you look at the planned activities, really, they are not convincing. We need to see the common people on the ground being helped. Whenever the President is there, they just keep making empty promises. When you look at the allocations, most funds are being directed to different offices rather than projects,” he added.

Documents submitted to the Presidential Affairs Committee on April 1, 2025, show that the largest portion of this proposed budget—sh800 million—has been set aside for the Government Chief Whip to provide support to 420 vulnerable groups or individuals.

Additionally, sh324 million is projected to cover twelve monthly retainer allowances for nine selected members of the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Budget (PACOB), while sh369 million is earmarked for twenty constituency field monitoring visits.

However, OPM officials later clarified that the allocation to the Chief Whip’s office covers administrative costs, including airtime.

They added that the budget would also support the coordination of a legislative agenda involving 24 bills aimed at addressing service delivery bottlenecks.

This is not the first time lawmakers have called for equal distribution of resources among holders of key parliamentary offices. In September last year, Democratic Party (DP) whip Peter Okot said administrative reforms on how the Leader of the Opposition’s (LOP) annual sh4 billion budget is utilised were imperative.

“The only salient thing I want is the element of resource utilisation within the opposition. Because at the moment, we are six political parties. What is appropriated to the Leader of the Opposition? Once it gets there, the law is very silent. How is it utilised with the other parties? I don’t see, and I cannot make noise because the law is not on my side—the law does not favour me,” he reasoned.

Adding, “I have been in Parliament—this is my second term—I have never seen that happen. When I have a meeting, yes, I am given sumbusas (laughs),” Okot pointed out.