The Government has halted all non-essential Travel in order to "scale down and optimise expenditure, focusing on important tasks and activities."
Chief of Staff and Head of the Public Service Felix Koskei writes to government officials with immediate consequences that delegations comprising Cabinet and Principal Secretaries and governors are henceforth limited to three people. Only a CS and two other people are present.
He added that where the CS is to be accompanied, at least one of the delegates must be a technical officer with expertise in the subject matter of the foreign engagement and shall be without security or personal assistants.
"Delegations headed by Cabinet Secretaries shall not exceed three persons, including the Cabinet Secretary as Head of Delegation (1+2)," he said.
In a further effort to control costs, Koskei states that CSs and PSs in the same ministries are not allowed to travel abroad concurrently unless international involvement specifically calls for it.
Koskei states that when the County Executive Committee is required to travel on a governor's behalf, they must do it by themselves.
The government has halted all travel authorizations presently given by principal secretaries and chief executive officers to employees of their respective agencies as a result of the new policy.
"Delegations travelling with the President, the First Lady, the Deputy President, and the Prime Cabinet Secretary shall strictly be approved for officials performing a direct role in the organised activities or programmes of the principals," Koskei said in the letter.
As a result, the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs has been instructed to rationalise and decrease by 50% the number of staff accompanying each of the leaders, as well as to set a seven-day maximum trip time, inclusive of travel dates.
Furthermore, the National Treasury has been instructed to fairly reduce all local and international travel expenditures by 50%.
Prior to engaging line ministries, Koskkei stated that foreign missions must fully attend to and represent the Government of Kenya in all subjects of interest in which the Republic of Kenya is invited to participate.
