Saitoti defends foreign affairs budget

By David Ochami

A committee of parliament is questioning dramatic increments of money allocated to some of Kenya's foreign missions besides hundreds of millions proposed to rebuild or refurbish others, including some, which have been subject of past audits.

But when the acting Foreign Affairs minister George Saitoti met the Defence and Foreign Relations Committee of parliament Wednesday he defended the Sh807million proposed by the Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta to build new or complete diplomatic properties in several countries in the 2011/2012 financial year.

Defence and Foreign Relations Committee chairman Aden Keinan says some of these works are projects “parliament cannot be expected to rubberstamp” because they “do not make economic sense” but Saitoti and his entourage insist there is good cause to deploy millions to build or rebuild/complete diplomatic properties in Islamabad, Abuja, Ottawa, Pretoria and Windhoek this new financial year.

And Yatta MP Charles Kilonzo said spending millions to rebuild Kenya’s old mission is troubling without a proper explanation of why the old one was abandoned barely a decade after purchase.

“Did we buy a condemned building?” queried the Yatta MP to which Saitoti said the first mission was abandoned and a new one purchased because the latter had “structural” weaknesses that made it uninhabitable.

The Yatta MP also said questioned why the government has allocated Sh356million to rebuild facilities in Windhoek after the minister announced the ministry will downgrade the mission in Namibia and transfer resources to more, economically, viable Luanda, Angola. Or why Kenya has never considered buying a chancery and high commissioner’s residence in Uganda “Kenya’s largest trading partner.”

Dr Margaret Gachuru the ministry’s Assets manager said it makes economic sense to refurbish the properties in Windhoek, a hulk of a building that was formerly a hotel and the Pretoria one because Kenyan owns them adding and they could acquire more value for rent or sale when rebuilt.

She says the mission in Islamabad which has been delayed due to insecurity “will be completed in June [this year].”

The minister said the ministry sought Sh20billion for development and recurrent purposes but was allocated just about Sh8billion or an overall deficit of Sh11.9billion thus cutting down on presidential trips and intended technical and bilateral assistance to South Sudan, Somalia and troubled states in the African Great Lakes.

Now Saitoti also says there is less money for the ministry to give scholarships but admits that in the new financial year it will spend Sh425million to educate children of diplomats abroad, Sh16million “for refurbishment of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs [headquarters] and Sh41 million to create a communicating Network linking the ministry in Nairobi and all the foreign missions.

“A new ministry of Foreign Affairs needs to be built….this [current] one is too small,” according to the minister who also defended Sh92million [from Sh5million in the 2010/2011 financial] allocated for hospitality and Sh16.1 million for foreign travel to the mission in London in the new financial year saying the money will be used to take care of Kenyan delegates at this year’s Commonwealth Heads of Government summit.

According to the minister these monies will also be spent to host all of Kenya’s high commissioners to a meeting in Nairobi this year.

He said that as the leading economy in the region Kenya has an obligation to support South Sudan and Somalia’s reconstruction in national self-interest in order to “have influence there” when they get independence or regain stability.

Foreign Affairs permanent Secretary Patrick Wamoto said assisting South Sudan and Somalia with “capacity building” and technical aid constitutes Kenya’s “soft power instruments” to secure interests in the region.

“As an economic powerhouse in the region we are looked upon to offer assistance to our neighbours,” Saitoti said and disclosed that the two troubled states have requested technical assistance and training some of which was to be co-funded by South Africa but this might not happen because Treasury did not allocate funds requested for that.

Saitoti said that in-fact he has been denied Sh500 million to establish a fully-fledged high commission in Juba, South Sudan which will be independent next month.

Acting Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary Patrick Wamoto   said the ministry is seeking approval to halt unfettered private developments diplomatic enclaves and announced Kenya and Uganda are negotiating a swap of plots for Kenya to establish diplomatic properties in Kampala and Uganda to erect a dry port in Mombasa.