Tourism Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua and his Public Service counterpart Moses Kuria made the most foreign trips among President William Ruto’s CSs in 2023, a new survey by TIFA shows.

In the report unveiled on Wednesday, February 7, CS Mutua topped the list of top five CS with the most foreign trips at 28 per cent followed by Kuria at 16 per cent.

The two CSs were among members of Ruto’s Cabinet redeployed in October last year, just after a year in office.

Before the Cabinet reshuffle, Mutua headed the Foreign Affairs Ministry, while Kuria was the CS for Investments, Trade and Industry.

“Alfred Mutua (Tourism/Wildlife and previously Foreign Affairs ), had the highest tally of foreign trips within the scope of his duties. Given the international nature of his ministerial portfolios, extensive travel is an inherent expectation,” TIFA said.

Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs Salim Mvurya was ranked third with 14 per cent ahead of National Treasury CS Njuguna Ndung’u who scored 13 per cent. Prime Cabinet Secretary and Foreign Affairs CS Musalia Mudavadu was ranked fifth with 12 per cent.

On the other hand, Education CS Ezekiel Machogu and his Interior counterpart Kithure Kindiki made zero international trips during the period.

Other least travelled CSs include Kipchumba Murkomen (Transport), Aisha Jumwa (Gender, Culture, Arts and Heritage) and Susan Nakhumicha (Health) who tied at 2 per cent.

Conversely, Kindiki topped the list of the CSs who visited the most counties in 2023. The CS visited 41 counties followed by Nakhumicha (36), Water CS Zacharua Njeru (27), Bore (26) and Mudavadi (26).

Kindiki also topped the list of CS with the most activities at 192 followed by Bore (183), Njeru (165), Nakhumicha (162) and Mudavadi (159).

According to TIFA, there were a total of 2,741 activities analyzed by cabinet secretaries. Out of these, 203 were foreign travel.

The top travel destination was Europe 24% share followed by the rest of Africa (excluding East Africa).

“A reliable indicator of the impact of these international travel would be the resulting economic ties and partnerships between Kenya and destination countries,” TIFA added.

According to the research, a staggering 54 per cent of the cabinet secretaries concentrated their activities, which included the unveiling of projects, in Nairobi.

“The over-focus could be attributed to the fact that their offices are located in Nairobi,” TIFA noted.