One of the strongest messages President William Ruto sent out on assuming office in 2022 was that his administration would implement austerity measures. He said the government was struggling with serious financial constraints.
It has, therefore, been disappointing to note that the wanton wasteful spending continues unabated. A notorious avenue for waste is domestic and international travel by government officials and lawmakers. Members of County Assemblies, MPs and senators have been splurging public funds on travel. The so-called bench-marking tours are nothing but a means for these leaders to be paid per diem and huge allowances. They are lucrative missions to line the officials’ pockets. The government has ordered a freeze on travel, but the overseas and local trips continue. There is little evidence of the visits generating value as a return on the public investment.
It is, therefore, gratifying to note that the government has not entirely abandoned austerity measures. State officers on official duty in the country and abroad will fly in the economy class. Only Cabinet and Principal secretaries will go in the business class in a bid to drastically reduce the domestic and foreign travel budget.
In these days of online transactions, non-essential travel should be discouraged. The trouble with the public sector is the tendency to ignore such rules and regulations and numerous circulars. To boost the national carrier, Kenya Airways, the new policy gives preference to it.
Last December, the National Treasury slashed travel allowances by half and limited the category of officers allowed to use planes domestically.
Travel is a huge cost. In the financial year ended June 2024, ministries, state departments and agencies spent Sh27.3 billion. Domestic travel gobbled up Sh18 billion and foreign visits Sh9 billion, according to the Controller of Budget. As the Controller of Budget has rightly stated, only essential foreign trips should be sanctioned.
