The Ministry of Foreign Affairs seeks at least Sh5 million annually for the next 15 years to buy properties for diplomats.
According to the ministry, the move will reduce the amount of money spent on rent by foreign missions.
The ministry says it has come up with an acquisition plan that will enable it to buy at least three properties annually to reduce rental expenditure which currently stands at Sh3 billion annually.
It says lack of adequate and uncertainty in funding due to budget cuts has made it difficult to plan for the acquisition, replacement, and maintenance of properties, therefore it wants the funds to be ring-fenced
In a report to Parliament, Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Macharia Kamau said: “Austerity measures normally make the ministry’s plan for …ongoing construction projects and maintenance plans hard. For instance, in Pretoria and Mogadishu, the construction has taken about five years instead of the 18 months original contract period.”
According to the PS, most government-owned properties in foreign missions are old having been acquired in the early years of Kenya’s diplomacy.
Kamau was responding to an inspection report by the National Assembly’s Defence and Foreign Relations Committee that outlined the deplorable conditions of Kenya’s embassies in 10 missions.
Some of the run-down stations identified by the report include New York (UN), Canada, Washington, Russia, Australia, Geneva, Japan, China, South Korea, and the Los Angeles consulate.
- Nairobi Police Officers Defy Odds Buy, New Blue Uniforms Themselves
- PS Karanja Kibicho: Huduma Number wasn’t mandatory but voluntary
- Lupita Nyong’o Moving Tribute To Chadwick Boseman
- DCI Reveals How Ex-Bank Manager Forged Documents, Grabbed 3B land in Runda
“The iron sheet roof and supporting structure had deteriorated extensively and there was evidence of general leakages. Gutters and down water pipes were extensively corroded,” the report said of Kenya’s embassy in Washington, DC.
The committee found that the official residence of Kenya’s representative in the UN- New York was deserted as the diplomats were forced to move out due to its dilapidated conditions.
