Reports that county and national government officials squandered Sh27 billion on trips in the middle of an austerity drive are unacceptable.
At a time of declining economic performance, shrinking revenue collection and many stalled projects, austerity measures are inevitable.
The extravagance of the leaders is an insult to taxpayers currently struggling to put food on their tables. Equally critical are the minimal returns of the numerous trips taken by top government officials, legislators and county honchos.
It is now becoming commonplace for assignments that can be easily be done at official work stations being performed in posh hotels hundreds of kilometres away.
Group travel abroad with officials tagging along entourages of aides is increasingly becoming the norm. The trend where the travel budget is rising by nearly Sh3 billion annually is simply not sustainable.
It reeks of misplaced priorities when the government spends more on trips than on building schools, upgrading water infrastructure and housing in a country where the official unemployment rate stands at 40 per cent.
The Treasury has in the past four years struggled to implement austerity measures prompted by underperformance in revenue collection amid rising expenditure. The Jubilee government in early 2014 announced a tight austerity programme aimed at cutting spending on non-core activities.
This included pay cuts for top officials and curb in trips, with only essential international travel allowed. The government should lead by example on calls for belt-tightening.
Public servants need to be reminded that government circulars are issued to lay down official policy, and those who breach them must be punished.
How does one explain the travel spend jumping by Sh10 billion since 2014? The economy cannot grow when the bulk of its revenue goes to recurrent expenditure.
This is even more critical now that the 2017 economic growth forecast has been lowered to five per cent from six per cent due to drought and political uncertainty.
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