Austerity for who? State splurges Sh27b on foreign trips

Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o when she appeared before the National Assembly's Finance Committee at Parliament Nairobi earlier this year.  [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

When President William Ruto issued a directive banning non-essential foreign travel for all state officials in October last year, it was expected that this would significantly reduce the amount the country spends on paying for overseas trips that give little value for money for taxpayers. 

It, however, appears that these were mere words or government officials blatantly ignored their boss, with travel expenditure for the year to June 2024 going up 34 per cent compared to the previous financial year.

A new report by the Controller of Budget (COB) shows that spending on both domestic and foreign travel increased by Sh6.97 billion over the financial year to Sh27.34 billion from Sh20.37 billion in the financial year to June 2023.

On October 2 last year, President Ruto’s Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service Felix Koskei issued a circular that suspended non-essential foreign travel.

Among the categories of travel banned through the circular included benchmarking and study visits, training and capacity-building initiatives, conferences and meetings of general participation and research and academic meetings.

However, the circular allowed foreign travel for critical engagements such as “fulfilment of state obligations, under the conduct of critical state party engagements” and “to fulfil a statutory leadership or membership role in which critical decisions impacting the country’s position are under consideration.”

The guidelines were part of President Ruto’s bid to have civil servants tighten their belts, a gospel he has all along preached, noting that he does not intend to lead a bankrupt country or one in debt distress.

The directives also limited spending on essential travel such that a delegation headed by Cabinet Secretaries would only have four persons who would only spend a maximum of seven cumulative days away per travel, 15 days per quarter, and 45 days per year. 

An analysis by the Office of the Controller of Budget, however, shows numerous instances where different government agencies sent staff to forums, many of them non-essential, and in some instances, staying away for weeks. 

According to the COB report on the government's spending over the financial year to June 2024, expenditure on domestic travel grew by a third to Sh18.15 billion from Sh14.04 billion in 2023. Since the 2019-2020 financial year, spending on local travel by government officials has nearly doubled.

Spending on foreign travel increased 45 per cent to Sh9.19 billion from Sh6.33 billion in the 2022-23 financial year.

The COB also noted the reluctance among government officials to break down their spending abroad, a possible pointer to their frivolous spending.

“Expenditure on domestic travel has grown from Sh10.82 billion in the 2019/20 financial year to Sh18.15 billion in the 2023-24 financial year. The percentage increase between the 2022/23 financial year (Sh14.04 billion) and 2023-24 financial year (Sh18.15 billion) was 29 per cent,” said CoB in the report.

“Similarly, the expenditure on foreign travel registered a 45 per cent increase between the 2022/23 financial year (Sh6.33 billion) and 2023/24 financial year (Sh9.19 billion) despite the efforts to reduce non-essential travel in FY 2023-24.

“In the 2023/24 financial year, the Office of the Controller of Budget requested details on MDAs' foreign travel to review compliance with the circular. However, some MDAs did not submit a detailed breakdown of foreign travel expenditures. Further, there were discrepancies in the amount reported on foreign travel by economic line vis-a-vis the detailed breakdown.”

Many of the foreign trips, according to the COB, were non-essential travel, with many government officials attending capacity-building meetings, training or benchmarking trips. These are the same kind of meetings whose attendance had been banned in the October 2, 2023 circular by the head of public service. 

“This spending pattern suggests that the Circular was not fully complied with,” said COB Margaret Nyakang'o in the report.

“The analysis indicates that large delegations were common. This indicates non-adherence to the Circular’s emphasis on minimising delegation sizes and calls for more robust controls to enforce adherence.

“Multiple trips to the same destinations by different MDAs suggest a lack of coordination, leading to redundant travel. For example, numerous departments travelled to Italy and France for similar purposes, incurring avoidable costs.”

Ms Nyakang'o recommends that the government adopt a rigorous pre-approval process for all foreign travel, requiring clear justifications aligned with the Circular. 

“MDAs should provide evidence that the travel either fulfils a state obligation or is essential,” said the COB, adding that the government should also establish a centralised unit to review and approve all foreign travel across MDAs to prevent duplication and redundancies. 

“This body would ensure that similar trips by different departments are consolidated or eliminated, reducing unnecessary expenditure. Periodic audits of foreign travel should be conducted to ensure compliance with the circular.”

The Circular by the Head of Public Service, had, according to COB, presented a critical shift towards optimising foreign travel expenditures by focusing on essential travel aligned with state obligations. 

“However, the success of these guidelines depends on strict enforcement, centralised coordination, and periodic audits,” said the COB in the report, adding that “the government can significantly reduce unnecessary travel costs and ensure that all foreign engagements provide tangible benefits to the country.”