Controller of Budget petition reveals MPs’ expensive lavish travels.
A recent audit by the Controller of Budget shows that the three arms of government have been indulging in over expenditure on travels with MPs leading in the list. According to the report, the populace has shown little respect to the measures of stringency announced by President William Ruto in the use of public resources.
Billions Spent on Travel
The first-quarter report shows that Ksh. 3.5 billion was spent on travels within the four-month period only. This amount was used in domestic travels since it cost Ksh. 2.5 billion while foreign travels cost Ksh. 1 billion.
MPs Lead in Extravagance
The MPs have been described as being ‘honourably extravagant,’ with members of the National Assembly topping the spending list. They spent Ksh. 870 million on local business travels, and Ksh. 173 million on international travels in the review period. The Senate was very close spending Ksh. 345, 700, 000 on local travel and Ksh. 80, 600, 000 on international travel.
Other Parliamentary Organizations also could be held held responsible for this high expenditure of course. The Parliamentary Service Commission incurred a total of Ksh. 10.7 million in the costs of travel and another Ksh. 94.6 million by the Parliamentary Joint Services.
State House Travel Costs
The report also highlighted the travel expenses in the Institutional Executive branch. Domestic transport costs by the Office of the President amounted to Ksh. 11 million, and the foreign transport costs amounted to Ksh. 1.3 million. On the other hand, State House expenditure disclosed further spending of Ksh. 43 million on domestic travelling and Ksh 5.8 million on International travelling during the period July —October.
Breach of Austerity Measures
The flagged expenditures are shocking and contrary to the President Ruto’s austerity measures aimed at reducing wastage of taxpayers’ money. The report stressed the inability of accountability mechanisms in the country to discourage the misuse of public resources.
Call for Financial Prudence
The revelations made by the Controller of Budget especially concerning expenditure priorities have of late elicited controversy across the country. As billions of shillings are being emulated on travels, there is increasing pressure for improved scrutiny and a change of direction more towards the current real and fundamental needs of the nation such as health, education and physical infrastructure.
The revelation of these spending habits is the revelation of how expenditure ought to reflect the priorities of a nation, and how the money collected from the common populace is spent in the interest of such populace.