PM denies US hotel room cost
Prime Minister Raila Odinga has refuted an MP's assertion that he spent Sh602,000 per day in hotel accommodation during his recent US trip.
In a statement from his office Thursday, Mr Odinga said the actual cost of his hotel room was Sh137,600 (USD1,600).
The cost was broken down as follows: Room Occupancy tax of $94.00, State Room Tax of $142.00 and a related tax of $8.00 that covered amenities like use of Internet, a meeting room to receive leaders visiting him; a bedroom annex for one bodyguard and a personal assistant; and a dining room, according to the statement.
"Yesterday (Thursday), May 25, 2011 in Parliament, Cherangany MP Mr Joshua Kutuny alleged that Prime Minister Raila Odinga spent $7000 per day in hotel accommodation during the recent visit to the US.
"While we acknowledge that this pattern of irresponsible behaviour is typical of the MP, we wish to clarify to the Kenyan people, as follows: The cost of the PM’s room was $1,600 per day for the three days he was accommodated at the facility," said Dennis Onyango, acting secretary communication in Mr Odinga's office.
Mr Onyango also said that other members of the PM's delegation stayed in standard rooms at the cost of USD250 (Sh21,500) per night.
"We view allegations by the MP as acts of ignorance, inspired by malice and an obsession with trying to mudsling the PM and reduce his profile in national and international affairs.
"These allegations fall in the same pattern with claims that the Prime Minister is responsible for taking Kenyans suspects to the ICC, a claim equally pushed by the same MP, among others," said Mr Onyango.
Mr Onyango also attached invoices that reflected the figures.
He said that Mr Odinga's trips abroad are never "in vain or for fun".
"Each trip the PM has made out of the country at the expense of tax payers has been on the line of duty and has returned great rewards."
The PM's aide listed several successful trips including a France visit in October 2009 where he obtained Sh10bn towards the Kenya Geothermal Development Company. The money was diverted to funding the purchase of two rigs that are being used to develop geothermal wells in the country.
"In a few weeks contracts will be awarded for Olkaria I and IV Power Plants. The project is projected to cost about US$800 million. About 40% of this cost will be financed by Japan International Cooperation Agency, which was pledged at Mr Odinga’s request when he visited Japan in February 2010," the statement added.
In the US, Mr Odinga visited the White House where he succeeded in securing a commitment of US$ 15 million to assist Kenya with border patrols.
"Insinuations that the PM is traveling for fun or in vain, and attempts to lump his travels with those undertaken by other Government officials, are grossly unfair and undermine clearly undermine the PM’s commitment to helping the country move forward," said Mr Onyango.
On Wednesday, Mr Odinga dazzled Parliament by acknowledging that he was accommodated in the Presidential Suite of a plush US hotel which an MP said cost the taxpayer Sh602,000 ($7,000) a night.
Mr Odinga said he was booked at the super-luxurious Waldorf Astoria in New York City during a recent business trip.
He was in the US for 10 days with a delegation of ministers, permanent secretaries, MPs and other officials.
Mr Odinga was responding to Mr Joshua Kutuny (Cherangany, ODM) who wanted him to confirm that he stayed at the hotel.
Mr Kutuny also tabled the hotel’s rates, which were not contested.
The PM told the House that most delegates to the United Nations stayed at the Waldorf Astoria during meetings at the UN headquarters and, as Kenya’s Prime Minister, MPs should not expect him to “stay at some backstreet hotel”.
Mr Kutuny said that the government forked out $7,000 for the Prime Minister while the rest of the delegation paid $4,500 (Sh387,000) per night.
Like Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka, the Prime Minister is entitled to a presidential suite on his foreign visits.
Mr Odinga said the responsibility of booking hotels lay with the ambassadors in the countries government officials visited.
“Each government department normally meets the travel and accommodation cost of its officers on official travel abroad,” the Prime Minister said in his 45-minute weekly address to Parliament.
