- The National Treasury revealed that expenditures on transport have consistently increased since the 2009/2010 fiscal year
- In line with the government’s austerity measures, Treasury CS John Mbadi proposed that only senior state officials in job group R and above fly the business class
- He recommended that priority should be given to national carrier Kenya Airways when flying locally and internationally
TUKO.co.ke journalist Japhet Ruto has over eight years of experience in financial, business, and technology reporting and offers profound insights into Kenyan and global economic trends.
President William Ruto’s government has proposed new travel guidelines in a policy aimed at taming the increasing public expenditure.
Source: Twitter
How public transport expenditure has increased
The Government Transport Policy 2024 was developed to address the inherent weaknesses in the management of the government fleet.
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According to the National Treasury, the expenditure on transport has consistently registered an increasing trend from the 2009/2010 fiscal year.
“Statistics on budgetary allocation to government transport shows a steady rise from KSh 8.6 billion in 2021 to KSh 9.7 billion in 2022, KSh 14.3 billion in 2023 FY and a further KSh 12.2 billion budgeted for 2023/2024,” Treasury Cabinet Secretary (CS) John Mbadi revealed.
To curb the rising expenditure and in line with the government’s austerity measures, Mbadi proposes that only senior state officials in job group R and above fly the business class.
“The use of business class is restricted to only senior government officers of JG R and above. All other government officers on official travel within and outside Kenya shall use the economy class for travel,” the policy states.
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Govt wants officials to prioritise Kenya Airways
CS Mbadi warned government officials against spending public funds on hired transport except in emergency cases.
He also recommended that priority should be given to national carrier Kenya Airways when flying locally and internationally.
“Hired air transport shall only be used within the country under exceptional circumstances where other means of transport may not be appropriate, in security services or in disasters. Preference for air transport shall be given to the national carrier-Kenya Airways.”
How much did govt officials spend on travel?
The Controller of Budget (CoB) report for FY 2022/23 indicated government expenditure on travel stood at KSh 14.7 billion.
It highlighted domestic and foreign travel, which totalled KSh 9.39 billion and KSh 4.68 billion, respectively.
The Office of the President spent KSh 681 million on travel, indicating a 113% increase compared to the previous year. Ruto travelled to over 20 foreign countries in the period.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
