This archive report was first published on 7 August 2019.
On August 7, 2019, Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga criticized the huge expenditure by Kenyan legislators attending the National Conference of State Legislatures in Nashville, Tennessee.
Kenya sent an 85-man team, comprising of both Speakers of the National Assembly and Senate, MPs, Senators, MCAs, clerks, and support staff, who are expected to gobble millions of shillings of taxpayers' cash during the trip.
According to the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA), Speakers of Parliament pocket about Sh75,000 as a daily subsistence allowance for travel to the US, MPs pocket Sh65,000, while MCAs take Sh42,600.
On average, the legislator's airfare to and from Nashville will cost between Sh355,000 and Sh587,000 for each person traveling depending on whether they are on business or economy class.
“I find no justification at all in Parliament and county assemblies sending such a huge delegation on a mission where a handful could come back with a report,” Odinga said in a statement.
