Why frequent overseas trips by MPs are a waste of public money

Members of Parliament are turning parliamentary committees into a multi-million gravy train as they engage in often fruitless foreign pursuits in the name of seeking accountability.

More often than not, MPs embark on foreign travels to investigate issues of accountability that the specialised investigative agencies have completed their work on and submitted reports.

An example that immediately comes to the fore is the Parliamentary Accounts Committee (PAC) whose chairman is Budalang’i MP Ababu Namwamba.

The PAC has been to Canada, South Africa and currently India in what looks like a repeat of the Auditor General’s special audit of the procurement of the biometric voter registration (BVR) kits by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.

Auditor General Edward Ouko completed the Special Audit on Procurement of Electronic Voting Devices for the 2013 General Election by IEBC, which also addressed the procurement of the BVRs on June 6.

VALUE FOR MONEY

Photos of Mr Namwamba and a female companion in front of Taj Mahal, Uttar Pradesh, India raised questions whether the MPs’ foreign travels were giving the country value for money. He had posted the photos on the social networking site, Facebook.

“I am not in a position to say what it (such foreign travels) costs but I can tell you that in many of those cases, it doesn’t add value when a matter has been investigated by a specialised agency,” National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi told Sunday Nation.

Mr Muturi is also the chairman of the Parliamentary Service Commission, which ensures the well-being of the MPs and staff of Parliament.

In the case of the Sh327 billion standard gauge railway tender, two House Committees were involved in parallel investigations.

Parliamentary Investments Committee (PIC), whose chairman is Eldas MP Adan Keynan (ODM) and the Transport Committee under Starehe MP Maina Kamanda both looked into the tender awarded to China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC).

The transport committee even went on a “fact-finding mission” to China, a trip that itself became a subject of investigation by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).

The anti-graft body was looking into allegations that some members may have been bribed by businessmen and wheeler dealers with interest in the multi-billion project to endorse it.

The current National Assembly has 29 committees – 12 departmental committees, eight select committees, five for housekeeping and two each for oversight, joint committees of the Senate and National Assembly.

With the coming of 2010 Constitution and the expansion of the National Assembly to 349 members, each committee has about 29 members. Prior to the promulgation of the 2010 Constitution, there were 222 elected and nominated MPs. 

To accommodate the increased number of MPs, the regulations allow up to seven MPs in foreign travels at a time while the entire committee can be included in local travel.

Each committee has an annual budget of about Sh14 million for its operations including travels, but MPs have been pushing to raise this to Sh20 million. This comes to Sh406 million for the 29 committees, a figure that could go up to Sh580 million if the MPs’ demand is met.

The National Assembly has recently established an additional committee, the Committee of the General Oversight, that was to summon cabinet secretaries to respond to queries on the floor of the House.

The 67 Senators, on the other hand, sit in about 17 committees – 11 departmental committees, four for county oversight, one for housekeeping and the two joint committees on issues of convergence with the National Assembly.    

Unlike committee sittings locally where members get between Sh7,500 and Sh15,000 for ordinary members and chairmen respectively, the per diems for foreign travels are higher.

In addition, chairmen of committees usually enjoy the added privilege of travelling in the business class.

At the end of it all, the members’ monthly gross pay tops Sh1.2 million when the windfalls from the foreign travels and other allowances such as mileage and pay for sitting are included.

According to Suba MP John Mbadi (ODM), there should not be a problem if the foreign trips by the legislators are for “objective appraisal of the issues” given that a lot of times specialised investigative bodies could be compromised.

“But there is fear that some of these trips are usually transformed to not-so-good ventures and that is why the membership of those delegations is carefully selected. The compliant members form the delegations,” said Mr Mbadi in a further indictment of the committees.

Majority Deputy Chief Whip Benjamin Washiali added that it does not make logical sense to have different agencies engage in parallel audits of the same institution or subject.  “This needs to be addressed by Parliament as a matter of urgency,” he said.

On his part, Consumer Federation of Kenya (Cofek) secretary general Stephen Mutoro said the frequent fruitless foreign trips by MPs were being precipitated by the resources at the MPs disposal.

Parliament, he said, is the only institution that allocates itself resources, which it then tries to utilise within the particular financial year.

“The bigger problem than duplication is that Parliament is abusing its powers and public interest is never among the MPs concerns,” he said.

Even the choice of places to visit – mostly in Asia and Europe – and the quality of reports they produce does not serve public interest, added Mr Mutoro.

The scramble for foreign travels is also because some MPs had never travelled outside the country before. As such, many clamour for such opportunities.