The Senate has termed as justified its first-ever sitting outside Nairobi, even as it emerged that it spent a whopping Sh32 million to hold last week’s sessions in Eldoret.
According to Senate Clerk Jeremiah Nyegenye said that,“Article 6 clause (3) gives the Senate the obligation to take its services closer to the people. We achieved all our objectives as we used the same occasion for 10 committees to undertake public hearings which would have cost more had we held them in Nairobi.”
The senators have also given a breakdown of the expenses where they said that the expenses included air travel for the 67 senators, accommodation in top hotels and renovation of Uasin Gishu County assembly, which hosted the plenary sessions.
A spot check showed that it costs about Sh15,000 a night for accommodation in a top hotel in Eldoret meaning about Sh1 million would be spent to accommodate the 67 senators.
Smaller hotels in the town charge between Sh4,000 and Sh6,000 a night, meaning another Sh300,000 was used to accommodate more than 50 Senate staff.
The expenses also included meals and transport for various Senate committees to neighbouring counties of Bungoma, Trans Nzoia, Nandi and Elgeyo-Marakwet where the senators held sessions with the county executives and the public.
Although the Senate has not released the official breakdown of expenses during the sittings, the return air tickets, going by local rates, cost more than Sh1 million for the lawmakers and Sh300,000 for the Senate staff.
Another Sh8 million is projected to have been used for catering services for participants from seven counties.
The taxpayer also coughed up Sh10 million for the renovation of the county assembly building, which hosted the various committees, and another Sh4 million for publicity.
Three governors including Governors Stanley Kiptis (Baringo), John Lonyangapuo (West Pokot) and Jackson Mandago (Uasin Gishu), are now scheduled to travel to Nairobi to appear before Senate’s County Public Accounts and Investments Committee over audit queries, had the sessions in Eldoret.
Different Senate committees visited Bungoma, Elgeyo-Marakwet, Trans Nzoia, Nandi and Malaba on the Kenya-Uganda border.
They also toured public facilities such as Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, Eldoret GK Prison and Eldoret International Airport.
Besides, the lawmakers addressed Nandi and Elgeyo-Marakwet county assemblies, and inspected development projects in West Pokot.
“It would have been more expensive, for instance, if all the farmers who made their proposals to the ad hoc committee in Eldoret were all to be invited to Nairobi,” said Mr Nyegenye.
Senate Speaker Ken Lusaka also defended the spending, saying the taxpayer got value for money.
“We didn’t come to Eldoret to waste taxpayers’ money. All the recommendations by the various committees will be implemented by the Senate,” said Dr Lusaka at the end of the Senate sittings on Friday.
He said the Senate plays a crucial role in the devolved system of governance and dismissed attempts to scrap the House.
Mr Lusaka said scrapping the Senate would be the beginning of the end of devolved governance.
“Those who think that they can scrap the Senate should forget it because devolution is here to stay and it is the Senate’s job to defend it,” he said.
He went on: “Kenyans voted for the Constitution and they wanted governance to be devolved. Those who think that they can withdraw such rights from the people should forget it because it will not happen.”
He said the Senate plays a crucial role in keeping governors in check to ensure public funds are not embezzled.
“We will continue to take Senate sittings to the grass roots to get Kenyans’ views on devolution,” he said.
Soy MP Caleb Kositany plans to introduce a Bill in the National Assembly that seeks to abolish the Senate as well as woman representative, nominated MP and MCA posts as a way of reducing the wage bill.
“The current wage bill is not sustainable. Governors were also elected but we don’t have nominated governors. What are nominated MPs for?” asked the first-term lawmaker.