Sh450m spent on State lodges

By Abiya Ochola

Millions of shillings in taxpayers’ money is being spent annually in maintaining State lodges that President Kibaki rarely uses, The Standard can reveal.

Coming in the wake of Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta’s call to ministries to cut down on non-essential expenditure, the revelation confirms that the Government is yet to tighten its belt on some aspects, especially regarding the President’s tours around the country.

A good example is the President’s whirlwind tour of Nyanza last week. During his two-day tour of the larger Kisii District, the President chose to fly back to the city for the night, as he has in the last seven years — burning hundreds of litres of fuel — and returning to the same town the following day, rather than spending the night in Kisumu State Lodge.

Sagana State Lodge

Kenya has eight state lodges — Mombasa, Kisumu, Eldoret, Nakuru, Sagana, Kakamega, as well as little-known Rumuruti and Cherangany.

Save for Mombasa State Lodge, which serves as Kibaki’s holiday home, and where he retreats for a week or two every December, the other seven State lodges are essentially white elephants that cost colossal sums to maintain.

The State lodges, built in all the provinces except Eastern and North Eastern, have collectively gobbled up Sh450 million in maintenance in the past two years, although the frequency of President Kibaki’s visits to those lodges are quite rare.

And as the country stares in the face of global financial recession that is fast slowing down past economic achievements, and a famine that threatens millions of its citizens, State opulence sits as an ugly blemish of insensitivity.

Hiring a chopper at commercial rates costs up to $3,000 (Sh240,000) an hour, according to an aviation source. On the President’s retinue in local travels are two military helicopters specifically assigned to him and the Presidential guard, and at least two police outrider choppers.

Kibaki’s two-day trip in Kisii last week must have cost at least Sh2 million daily, if one were to compute that rate against eight hours.

Asked why the President chose to fly back to Nairobi instead of staying on at the Kisumu State lodge, the Director of Presidential Press Service Isaiah Kabira said the facility "is under renovation."

The first and last time Kibaki spent a night at the Kisumu State Lodge was in 2005 when he went to inaugurate the Bar Sauri Millennium village.

"The President does not seem to like Kisumu. The facility has lost value for Kisumu people. It is like claiming you own a car that is permanently in a garage," said Migori MP John Pesa.

But Kabira was quick to refute that the President does not stay at the State lodges except Mombasa.

"The President has always been using the State lodges and any information to the contrary is misleading. He uses the facilities all the time," said Kabira.

Pressed further to explain why the President could not use the Provincial Commissioner or District Commissioner’s official residences while on his Kisii trip, Kabira said: "Everyone has their own style of doing things."

The eight lodges need millions of shillings to maintain while some have been given a facelift.

Efficient utilisation

Apart from Cherangany, which is dilapidated and uninhabitable though heavily guarded, the other lodges are manned by GSU officers and a full compliment of civil servants on permanent terms.

The lodges have a combined development budget of Sh117 million for the current financial year, up from Sh104 million in 2007, according to Government records.

Sagana State Lodge was given Sh105 million for construction of a building, while Mombasa got Sh65 million for construction and civil works. Nakuru got an allocation of Sh8 million, Kisumu Sh7 million, Eldoret Sh7 million and Kakamega Sh7 million.

The Mombasa State Lodge has 19 employees earning a collective basic salary of Sh2 million annually and a combined house and medical allowance of Sh771,300.

Sagana has the highest number of employees at 43, probably because of its vicinity to Othaya, Kibaki’s backyard. They collectively earn Sh4.5 million in basic salary and another Sh1.2 million in medical and house allowances.

Others are Nakuru with 14 employees, Kisumu with eight, Eldoret has 12, while Kakamega has nine.

In the 2007/08 financial year, the Government spent Sh63,810,515 to run the State lodges, while another Sh53,365,878 will have been spent by the end of the current financial year in June in recurrent expenditure. Another Sh61,298,061 has been estimated for the next financial year.

Rarely used

Ironically, not withstanding the wastage, the Mission Statement for the State lodges is to "provide timely and quality service to the President through efficient utilisation of resources".

Sagana State Lodge, at the foot of the picturesque Mt Kenya, though rarely put to use, was rehabilitated in 2006 at a staggering Sh314 million, with several cottages being constructed at the facility. It was at this facility that the President and Prime Minister Raila Odinga met to hammer out the coalition Cabinet at the height of the post-election impasse.

Mombasa State Lodge has received Sh33 million in the past 24 months while Sagana got Sh26.4 million, followed by Nakuru with Sh24.6 million and Eldoret at Sh16 million.

The least funded State lodges are Kakamega and Kisumu, which received a combined total of Sh15 million.

Although the President’s itinerary is a secret State security affair, a close scrutiny of Kibaki’s recent tours reveals that he rarely uses the State lodges or senior provincial administration officers’ residences like his predecessor Daniel arap Moi.