This archive report was first published on 8 August 2019.
On April 4, 2019, President Uhuru Kenyatta, Deputy President William Ruto, and top government officials attended the President's State of the Nation address in Nairobi. The event marked the beginning of a controversy that would engulf Kenya's parliament.
According to reports, 85 MPs, senators, ward representatives, and parliamentary staff traveled to the US for a legislative conference. The trip was paid for by taxpayers, sparking outrage among Kenyans.
ODM leader Raila Odinga described the MPs' response to the reports as a 'strange rage that betrays collective guilt.' He challenged parliament to come clean and explain who traveled to the US at taxpayer expense.
"The information that the Daily Nation published is in the hands of several people, locally and abroad, who out of pain for our country, felt the need to put it out if that can help stop the culture of waste and living large at the expense of taxpayers that has become the mode in our legislatures," Mr Odinga said in a statement to newsrooms.
Two MPs did not travel due to visa problems, but credible sources in Parliament revealed that Speaker Justin Muturi was persuaded to attend the conference because of the size of the Kenyan delegation. He arrived in the US on Sunday, three days after most of the Kenyan delegates had arrived, and is to cut short his trip and return Thursday.
Some international organisations involved in the summit raised concern over the huge number of Kenyans, who comprised the largest delegation.
