The government blew Sh18.18 billion on local and foreign travel in the first nine months of the current financial year, as ministries and parastatals struggled to comply with austerity measures.
This marked an increase of Sh4.11 billion from the Sh14 billion that national government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) used in a similar period last year, according to the latest Controller of Budget (CoB) report.
The National Assembly, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Senate, the Judiciary and State House were the biggest travel spenders, with overseas trips by officials - which often involve lavish allowances – continuing unabated.
The CoB quarterly report shows that spending on domestic travel for the nine months reached Sh12.33 billion while officials splurged Sh5.85 billion on foreign travel, accompanied by delegations of aides.
This has emerged in spite of directives requiring ministries and agencies to cut unnecessary expenditures, such as trips abroad by officials and hospitality spending, to rein in a gaping fiscal deficit.
The Treasury earlier said all non-core expenditures will be reviewed to ensure the government can make savings and fund its programmes without relying too much on debt. The National Assembly blew Sh4.8 billion on travel, with Sh3.5 billion for local trips and Sh1.3 billion on foreign travel, topping the list.
Conversely, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and the Witness Protection Agency (WPA) spent nothing on both local and foreign travel, raising questions about where their cash for trips is being accounted from.
The Treasury and State House have pushed for budget cuts, especially on non-essential items in Kenya’s quest to attain a balanced budget in the next three years.
Kenya has in the past decade been running wide fiscal deficits to fund a range of ambitious infrastructure projects, but the stance nearly backfired when markets started to question the government’s ability to repay the debts. In addition to cutting spending and reducing the budget deficit, President William Ruto’s government, which took office in 2022, has also been introducing new taxes, sparking public anger.
Some individuals and groups have challenged the tax measures in court.
The State Department for Foreign Affairs splashed Sh1.91 billion, which includes Sh193.74 million on local travel and Sh1.712 billion on foreign tours. The Senate spent Sh1.7 billion- Sh1.07 billion local travel and Sh592.29 million on foreign tours.
The Judiciary consumed Sh1.2 billion with Sh166.06 million in domestic travel and Sh1.03 billion in foreign travel while State House incurred Sh898.02 million, including Sh750.36 million on domestic travel and Sh147.66 million on foreign travel.
Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o notes that the figure could be higher considering that 35 MDAs, among them State House, National Assembly, the Treasury, Office of Deputy President and Office of Prime Cabinet Secretary, did not provide the required information on foreign travel.
This is despite being requested to do so, casting doubts on their prudent use of public resources. Among the MDAs that submitted data, several discrepancies were noted, indicating inconsistencies and potential inaccuracies in the reported information.
The Controller of Budget Act requires that all public entities submit accurate and timely information as requested by the CoB to ensure proper oversight and accountability in public expenditure.
“The Controller of Budget requested MDAs to submit information on foreign travel to enable review and do analysis of compliance with government directives on foreign travel but some MDAs didn’t submit,” Dr Nyakang’o says in the report.
On June 29, 2023, the Treasury issued austerity guidelines to streamline foreign travel as it slashed allowances for official travel and banned non-essential lunch, tea and water for civil servants.
The guidelines on foreign travel take into account directives on travel conditions, delegation sizes, application procedures, and timelines.
This included limiting the delegation headed by Cabinet Secretaries (CSs) to four persons as well as limiting the cumulative days away to a maximum of seven days per travel, translating to 15 days per quarter and 45 days in a year.
Travel clearance applications are to be submitted at least seven working days before the travel date. Additionally, non-essential foreign travel was suspended to ensure fiscal prudence.
“I urge the accounting officers to adhere to the government guidelines on foreign travel to reduce the budget on non-core expenditure and save funds for key services,” Dr Nyakang’o says.
The document reveals that the failure to adhere to the Treasury circular that has led to the growth in travel expenses “shows that MDAs budgeted for travelling under the use of goods and services.”
“The Controller of Budget recommends compliance with government guidelines relating to non-core expenses including domestic and foreign travel,” the report says.
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The 35 MDAs that failed to provide the required documents include State House, the Office of the Deputy President, the Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary, the National Treasury, the State Department for Foreign Affairs, the State Law Office, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).
The others are the National Assembly, Parliamentary Joint Services (PJS), the National Land Commission (NLC), the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), the Office of the Auditor-General and the Department of Investment Promotion.
The CoB report shows that the other MDAs that splashed big on travel costs are the State Department for Internal Security and National Administration Sh655.08 million broken down as Sh650.83 million local travel and Sh4.25 million foreign travel and the Office of the Auditor-General Sh613.99 million of which Sh551.91 million is local travel and Sh62.08 million foreign travel.
The Parliamentary Joint Services (PJS) incurred Sh594.84 million, which includes Sh262.14 million local and Sh332.70 million foreign tours.
The National Police Service (NPS) spent Sh505.41 million, with Sh503.51 million on domestic travel and Sh1.90 million on foreign travel.
State Department for Immigration and Citizen Services Sh455.33 million, which includes Sh391.54 million local travel and Sh63.79 million foreign travel and Office of the Deputy President Sh368.52 million that includes Sh247.48 domestic and Sh121.04 foreign travel.
The Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary (OPCS) spent Sh91.86 million on trips with Sh61.11 in domestic travel and Sh30.75 million in foreign tours.
State Department for Diaspora Affairs incurred Sh355.21 million, which included Sh32.68 million in local tours and Sh322.53 million in foreign tours with the State Department for Mining spending Sh251.71 million, which includes Sh241.34 million in local travel costs and Sh10.37 million in foreign travel expenditure.
The State Law Office spent Sh209.24 million on trips that included Sh155.93 million local and 53.31 million foreign, the National Treasury Sh187.52 million with Sh132.46 million local and Sh55.06 million foreign.
There is also the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) which spent Sh144.01 million with Sh97.48 million in local trips and Sh46.53 million foreign, Judicial Service Commission (JSC) spending Sh111.35 million translating to Sh74.87 million local trips and Sh36.48 million foreign.
The State Department for Lands and Physical Planning spent Sh61.14 million on local tours but did not spend a penny on foreign trips, the same as the State Department for Crop Development which only spent Sh10.24 million locally.
