Nairobi, May 10 -- The cost of maintaining a coterie of President William Ruto's advisers will cross the Sh1 billion mark, underlining the burden of hiring consultants in government.

Budget documents tabled in Parliament show that the six advisory units will spend Sh1.14 billion in the year starting July, up from Sh977 million in the current fiscal year.

The high-profile advisers, including Dr David Ndii, Mr Henry Rotich and Dr Monica Juma, will splurge the bulk of the hundreds of millions on salaries, travel and entertainment.

This emerges in an era where the State is racing to cut unnecessary expenditure, such as trips abroad by officials and hospitality spending, to rein in a gaping fiscal deficit.

The advice-givers and their suppo...