Tanzania and Dubai were the most preferred destinations for county officials, including Members of County Assemblies (MCAs) of the 47 counties, in the nine months ended March, with 98 trips made to the two countries and Sh380 million spent.
An analysis of data from the Controller of Budget shows that the MCAs and staff made 57 trips to Arusha, Dar es Salaam and Musoma in Tanzania and spent Sh237.1 million, followed by 41 trips to Dubai where they spent Sh142.87 million.
Benchmarking, leadership and governance seminars topped the reasons for most of the trips to Tanzania, while e-governance ,financial accountability and oversight training were the main purposes of the travel to Dubai.
Increasing foreign travels by elected and appointed officials at the county and national governments has been a major concern, gobbling funds at the expense of delivery of critical services such as healthcare and roads.
There are also growing concerns that taxpayers do not get value for money for these trips, with most of the travels seen as an avenue for officials to fatten their take-homes.
The CoB data shows that counties spent Sh1.76 billion on foreign trips alone in the nine months.
Some 598 officials and MCAs travelled to Tanzania in the period under review for purposes that included Mara Day celebrations, where 38 executives from Narok County spent Sh5.19 million. The analysis shows that a further 188 went to Dubai in the period under review, according to the CoB report.
China was the third most popular destination with MCAs and county staff making 12 trips to several cities in the Asian economic giant, and spending Sh40 million.
New York was the fourth most preferred destination with seven trips for functions that included attending the United Nations General Assembly and also academic purposes.
Cities such as New York, Dubai, London and Geneva have some of the highest per diems for employees of both national and county governments, highlighting why they remain popular destinations.
The increased foreign travel has raised questions on prioritisation of items across the 47 counties, given the high stock of pending bills and struggles to deliver critical services.
Pending bills for the counties rose to Sh156.84 billion in March this year, compared to Sh172 billion a year ago. The counties have repeatedly said that a cash crunch is to blame for the slow payment.
Counties continue to rely on the National Treasury to run their operations, more than a decade since the start of devolution. Any delays in the disbursement of the equitable share of revenue trigger a near paralysis.
Dismal own-source revenue collections have further hurt the counties’ ability to self-fund operations even as their elected and appointed officials embark on foreign trips amid questions on value for money for taxpayers.