Economy

Rotich seeks more millions from MPs for Uhuru travel

agnes

Controller of Budget Agnes Odhiambo says the Presidency spent Sh63.4 million on domestic travel in the three months to September. PHOTO | FILE

Treasury secretary Henry Rotich has allocated Sh50 million more to cater for local presidential visits amid calls for austerity measures.

The request for additional travel budget points to increased domestic travel by President Uhuru Kenyatta in the six months to June next year.

The money is contained in a mini-budget tabled in Parliament by Majority Leader Aden Duale during a special session last Thursday where Mr Rotich is seeking MPs’ nod for an additional Sh57 billion.

The Controller of Budget says the presidency spent Sh63.4 million on domestic travel and Sh11.5 million for foreign trips in the three months to September.

In the year ended June, the presidency – comprising Mr Kenyatta’s office and that of deputy president William Ruto – spent Sh371.4 million in domestic travel and Sh187.9 million in foreign travel.

Mr Kenyatta early in the year issued a directive that required senior officials to cut public spending and save money his government needs to pursue its development agenda.

The Jubilee government announced a tight austerity programme to cut spending on non-essential activities.

READ: Ministers, MPs defy austerity to spend Sh7.4bn on travel, cars

The programme, which the Controller of Budget says saved hundreds of millions of shillings, requires public officials to lease rather than buy vehicles and equipment, cut down on out-of-work meetings, restrict foreign travels and use technology to reduce administrative costs.

The spending cut plan deepened with the announcement that top public officials led by Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto had offered to take a 20 per cent pay cut, a pledge that is yet to be implemented.

The government also unveiled a new transport policy where the Police Service started hiring vehicles instead of buying. But taxpayers are still spending billions of shillings to cater for state officials’ locals and foreign travel.

The Controller of Budget says that the national government and Parliament spent Sh1.3 billion on travel in the three months to September. Members of Parliament spent a Sh651 million on local and foreign travel in the period to September.

Another big spenders on foreign trips was the Foreign Affairs ministry which consumed Sh280.7 million.

“The high expenditure on foreign travel by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is due to trips by diplomatic staff on foreign assignments in line with the ministry mandate of promoting foreign relations as well as driving the country’s international policy,” says the budget office.