State House defends Uhuru foreign trips

Politics and policy

State House spokesman Manoah Esipisu addresses journalists on December 6, 2015. He said President Uhuru Kenyatta's numerous foreign trips had helped Kenya secure deals worth billions of dollars. PHOTO | EVANS HABIL  

By NEVILLE OTUKI

In Summary

• State House spokesman Manoah Esipisu on Sunday said that Kenya has closed multi-billion dollar deals due to the country’s growing visibility on the global map as the President reaches out to foreign investors.
• Mr Esipisu was responding to concerns raised over President Kenyatta’s frequent-flier status that is seen piling unnecessary costs on taxpayers.
• President Kenyatta has been on 43 taxpayer-funded trips in just two-and-a-half years since he took office in 2013 compared to former president Mwai Kibaki’s 33 trips in the whole of his 10-year presidency.

State House has defended President Uhuru Kenyatta’s frequent foreign trips, saying they are meant to unlock capital inflows, secure the country’s interests and cement its regional position.

Spokesperson Manoah Esipisu on Sunday said that Kenya has closed multi-billion dollar deals, largely with China, and seen increased foreign direct investment (FDI) due to the country’s growing visibility on the global map as the President reaches out to foreign investors.

“Look at the FDI over the period the President has been in office…foreign direct inflows into Kenya are significantly higher during this Presidency than there has ever been since independence,” Mr Esipisu told a Press conference at State House.

He said that China will fund the construction of a Sh4.5 billion conference facility to be managed by Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Sh153 billion ($1.5 billion) for the extension of the Mombasa-Nairobi standard gauge railway to Naivasha’s proposed industrial parks.

Mr Esipisu was responding to concerns raised over President Kenyatta’s frequent-flier status that is seen piling unnecessary costs on taxpayers.

President Kenyatta has been on 43 taxpayer-funded trips in just two-and-a-half years since he took office in 2013 compared to former president Mwai Kibaki’s 33 trips in the whole of his 10-year presidency.

President Kenyatta has also been criticised for travelling with a large delegation, lately to France for the climate summit in Paris. The delegation to France had 43 officials.

READ: Uhuru's frequent flier diary strains State House budget

At the event, Kenya got $200 million (Sh20.4 billion) from the World Bank for clean water supply in coastal city of  Mombasa.

“It would be folly to send two lawyers to Cop21 when the United States has 150 lawyers to secure its commitments to the agreement,” said Mr Esipisu. “We would just never be able to play in that league. We’ve got to get our experts out there for the sake of our nation.”

The President travelled to Malta, France and South Africa last week alone. He will today commission the Moyale-Addis Ababa Road and will attend an infrastructure conference in Kigali, Rwanda, on Thursday.

The controller of budget capped the cost of the Presidency’s foreign trips at Sh1.2 billion in the financial year that ended in June 2015.

The Presidency, which combines Mr Kenyatta’s office and that of Deputy President William Ruto, overshot the budget cap, spending Sh2.1 billion on travel and hospitality in the last financial year, controller of budget documents show.

Mr Esipisu said that Mr Kenyatta has to make trips to nations in East Africa as part of quest to integrate the region’s telecommunications, infrastructure alongside labour and commodity markets.

“We cannot claim the leadership position we have in the region and yet shun our obligations to deal with regional issues. The President is called from time to time to deal with regional issues,” said Mr Esipisu.