State House spokesperson Hussein Mohammed dismissed claims that the government funded 763 delegates to attend the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) in Dubai.
Speaking in a media interview on Sunday night December 3, Hussein insisted that the government only funded 51 delegates to attend the meeting.
However, he explained that the large number of 763 delegates quoted by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was from other guests from Kenya but not funded by the government.
Hussein elaborated that some were sponsored by youth groups, non-governmental organizations and members from certain communities who had an interest in the meeting aimed at addressing climate change.
“The Kenyan delegation is huge in terms of the number of Kenyans coming. In terms of the people from the national government coming, we had 51 people. We have a lot more Kenyans coming representing youth groups, women, communities, from the NGO world. Are you going to say that all those people are representatives of government? No. They have their own roles to undertake at COP,” the State House spokesperson stated.
Among those who attended the COP 28 summit included President William Ruto, First Lady Rachel Ruto, Second Lady Dorcas Rigathi, Prime Cabinet Musalia Mudavadi, Environment and Forestry CS Soipan Tuya and Attorney General Justin Muturi.
Other CSs include Rebecca Miano (Trade), Njuguna Ndung’u (Treasury), Aisha Jumwa (Public Service) and Alice Wahome (Water).
The travelling delegation sparked debate amid a ballooning cost of living. Sections of Kenyans raised concerns arguing that the Kenya Kwanza government had shown blatant disregard for upholding austerity measures.
Head of Public Service Felix Koskei had ordered the immediate stoppage of unjustified foreign or domestic travel and directed all government offices to hold their retreats within the capital, Nairobi.
Koskei was forced to intervene after a report from the Controller of Budget revealed that Ruto’s administration had spent Ksh20.37 billion on travel.
Controller of Budget’s report came despite Ruto announcing that he had reduced travel expenditure by up to Ksh11 billion.
