President Uhuru Kenyatta asked to account for his trips abroad

President Uhuru Kenyatta has been asked to account for the trips he has made overseas as pressure grows on the government to reduce wastage of public funds.

This follows claims that the President was scheduled to be accompanied by more than 40 MPs to this year’s United General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, USA.

Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale (UDF), who sought a ministerial statement in the Senate on Wednesday, said the Kenyan delegation was entitled to only 10 sitting slots at the assembly.
Mr Kenyatta is expected to hold bilateral talks with a number of global leaders on a range of issues affecting Kenyans.

Dr Khalwale demanded to know the number of overseas trips the President has made from January this year and the relevance of the journeys.

He also wants the government to reveal the composition and the number of persons in the delegation in each of the trips.

He said the matter is relevant even for county governments, which have been accused of getting their priorities wrong.

NON-ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

The lawmaker said Kenyans have a right to be told the cost of each of the trips, as the country grapples with concerns that a significant portion of the budget has been allocated for non-essential functions.

“What measures are the government taking to cut down on the frequency and size of delegations in overseas trips, in view of the admission by the President that the country is facing a financial crisis?” Dr Khalwale asked.

He added that the inadequate funds to cope with the country’s financial obligations has been cited as the reason for the government's failure to honour the court ruling to pay teachers higher salaries.

The teachers were awarded a 50-60 per cent raise by the Employment and Labour Relations Court, a decision that was upheld by the Court of Appeal, but the government has since appealed.

The Senate Finance Committee, chaired by Billow Kerrow (Mandera, URP), is likely to summon Cabinet secretaries for the Treasury and Foreign Affairs, to respond to the issues before they deliver the answers in the House within three weeks.

Migori, Elgeyo-Marakwet and Meru are some of the counties that have been criticised for spending colossal amounts of public funds on “unnecessary” expenses.

Members of the Migori County Assembly allegedly travelled to Dubai at a cost of Sh5.8 million to learn about waste management, whereas their Elgeyo-Marakwet colleagues reportedly travelled to Congo-Brazzaville for a 10-day “benchmarking” trip that cost Sh4.3 million.

The Meru County government is said to have purchased curtains worth Sh7.8 million in the 2014/2015 financial year.