Ruto: No official should be out of the country for more than 7 days
By Mary Ouko, July 29, 2023
President William Ruto has made adjustments on overseas travels for Executive members today, Saturday, July 29, 2023.
Through a memo shared by Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service Felix Koskei, the President announced that overseas trips for officials have been limited to 45 days per year. He also announced that no official can be out of the country for more than 7 days in a row.
The memo dated July 29, 2023, also indicated that all foreign trips must be endorsed by the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs.
Similarly, Cabinet Secretaries (CSs), Chief Administrative Secretaries (CASs), Principal Secretaries (PSs) and Chief Executive Officers of State Corporations have been advised to continue fetching their travel requests from the President’s office.
In the same degree, Koskei announced that the government will moderate attendance for International conferences and workshops adding that the State has advised government officials to opt for virtual participation to reduce expenditure on foreign trips.
Koskei reiterated that non-essential travel remained suspended in line with the continuation of the suspension of non-essential foreign travel that had been set by the government.
While announcing the reforms, Koskei went on to state that calendars should be modified to ensure that no CS and PS go on foreign trips within the same period.
The Head of Public Service also announced that the government will not approve travel requests for all personal assistants and security personnel working for government officials.
“Non-essential foreign travels remain suspended. This office shall, as part of the application review process, obtain an advisory from the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs on the necessity of participation of a delegation from the ministry. In this regard, all requests and travel shall be copied to the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs for their information and advisory,” the memo reads in parts.
“Personal assistants and security personnel will not be approved for travel, save for assistants to persons living with disability,” the memo added.
At the same time, the Chief of Staff warned government officials that all benchmarking visits must be associated with a gazetted reform initiative that targets policy and operational effects.
Travel reforms
Koskei explained that the restrictions are meant to improve ‘compliance’ among government officials which the government says has contributed to a breach of some measures.
The Chief of Staff also reiterated that the move is meant to minimise spending within the Executive to support the current budget.
“Unfortunately, this office has observed a less than optimal compliance standard, which has resulted in the breach of some of the prescribed measures, numerous late requests, and consequently, difficulties in obtaining the prudence and cost-effectiveness, objective originally anticipated,” the memo added.