Foreign trips are fast draining most county officers and the national government is not pleased at all. Migori County for instance spent the highest at sh369.4 million on trips alone. Their friends Elgeyo Marakwet spent the least at sh53.4 million, while Nairobi spent sh134 million.
It has been revealed that county officials and MCAs have been ‘[highlight]sneaking out[/highlight]’ of the country without informing the ministry of foreign affairs, only to nag and humiliate Kenyan embassies and High Commissions abroad.
The head of public service Joseph Kinyua said:
“Our envoys have been summoned in some countries to explain the presence of senior officials without the prior knowledge of the authorities, considering that security remains the burden of the host governments.”
In 2014, eight European and African countries reportedly banned Kenyan MCAs from touring their countries. The countries include Israel, South Africa, Brazil, USA, Rwanda, Malaysia, Netherlands and Singapore.
Controller of Budget Agnes Odhiambo in a review report released last year, said besides huge amounts of money spent on trips, the host countries complained of large delegations of over 50 people touring the same country on the same subject matter.
Kinyua, in a letter sent to all governors and MCAs and copied to suspended cabinet secretary Francis Kimemia, directed the counties to keep delegations at a minimum and not more than seven people.
“All official international visits be coordinated through the ministry of foreign affairs and international trade with at least three months notcie from the date of request.”
Kinyua said.
Contributed by James Mwangi, TheNairobian.
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