This archive report was first published on 10 August 2019.
Raila Slams Parliament Over US Trip ¶
Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has criticized Parliament for sending a large delegation to a US conference at taxpayers' expense.
According to Raila, Kenya sent the largest delegation of 85 people to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) in Nashville, Tennessee, at a time when President Uhuru Kenyatta's administration is proposing cuts on foreign travel as part of a wide range of austerity measures.
On Thursday, MPs went for a one-month recess without providing a list of members and staff who traveled for the legislative conference, despite Deputy Speaker Moses Cheboi promising to do so.
New details have emerged stating that five more leaders traveled to the US for the legislative conference, bringing the total number of MPs, senators, ward representatives, and Parliament's staff to 90.
Among those listed as additional participants from Kenya by the organizers were senators Agnes Zani (ODM, nominated), Fredrick Outa (Kisumu), Meru Speaker Joseph Kaberia, and MCAs Ayub Bundi and Victor Karithi.
Raila Odinga was the first to chastise the wastage of taxpayers' money, scolding the MPs for encouraging a culture of waste and living large at the expense of taxpayers.
He stated that Kenya sent a delegation of 90 people to the US conference, adding that it was a shame to send such a huge delegation at the taxpayers' cost.
According to Raila, Kenyan representatives at the conference that officially started on Monday and ended on Thursday could be more than 100, as some hangers-on who accompanied the VIPs were not listed in the official conference list.
Even though the Tennessee conference targets State legislators, legislative staff, government officials, business representatives, educators, and others interested in public policy, the Kenyan delegation also included a number of personal assistants of the legislators.
The conference coincided with a visit by President Kenyatta to Jamaica, and another training targeting government officials from 21 Kenyan border counties has been going on in Arizona and Washington, DC.
Auditor-General's report indicates that MCAs spent Sh162 million on foreign travel in the 2016/17 financial year, while the county executive spent a wobbling Sh267 million in the same period.
