Taita Taveta governor Andrew Mwadime wants gov’t to also regulate local travel

Taita Taveta governor Andrew Mwadime has called for regulation of local travel by government officials, following Monday’s suspension of all non-essential foreign travel.

In a move aimed at regulating public spending, Head of Public Service Felix Koskei announced the suspension of benchmarking, study visits, training and related capacity-building initiatives as well as research, academic meetings and symposia attended by government officials.

Governor Mwadime on Tuesday supported the move and urged the Head of Public Service to look into counties’ local travel expenses as well.

The governor said some counties have been financially disadvantaged as a result of holding meetings in relatively distant places such as Nairobi, Mombasa and Naivasha.

“Some counties have some of their meetings in Nairobi, Mombasa and Naivasha. We don’t have an airstrip but the number of times we travel from Taita to Nairobi monthly is equivalent to a trip to Turkey, so we should also talk about local travel,” Mwadime said on Citizen TV’s Day Break program.

He suggested a “decentralised” system of holding government meetings.

“Instead of meetings being held in Nairobi, Mombasa and Naivasha all the time, some are taken to Taita, Kisii and Kakamega,” said Mwadime.

“It is very expensive and more for counties that are disadvantaged and I support the circular because cost management is good. Some of us get little allocations and having to travel to Nairobi every time is very expensive.”

Koskei on Monday also announced the restriction of delegations accompanying the President, Deputy President, First Lady and Prime Cabinet Secretaries for foreign trips.

Others include conferences and meetings of general participation, side events such as showcase events and exhibitions as well as caucus and association meetings and events.

Consequently, Koskei indicated that delegations headed by Cabinet Secretaries shall not exceed three persons including the Cabinet Secretary as Head of the delegation while delegations headed by Principal Secretaries, shall not exceed two persons.

Delegations involving both Cabinet and Principal Secretaries shall be restricted to the three-person limit. 

Meanwhile, delegations headed by County Governors shall not exceed three persons including the Governor as head of delegation.

Delegations accompanying the President, the First Lady, the Deputy President, and the Prime Cabinet Secretary shall strictly be approved for officials playing a direct role in the scheduled activities/programme of the principals.