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State halts non-essential foreign travel for state officers

Koskei says Cabinet and Principal Secretaries in the same ministries shall not be away on foreign travel at the same time, unless the foreign engagement expressly demands the same.

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Felix Koskei, Chief of Staff in the Executive office of the President and Head of Public Service. PHOTO/COURTESY

The Chief of Staff in the office of the President on Monday announced the suspension of unnecessary foreign trips by government officers.

In a move to scale down expenditure, prioritise spending and shift focus on the critical operations and activities that are essential to service delivery to the citizen, chief of staff who is also the Head of Public Service Felix Koskei further noted that the government has been forced to limit and restrict the number of state officers to be out of the country on any mission.

In the latest advisory, Koskei says delegations involving both Cabinet and Principal Secretaries shall be restricted to the three (3) person limit.

And that’s not all, given that, going forward “Cabinet and Principal Secretaries in the same ministries shall not be away on foreign travel at the same time, unless the foreign engagement expressly demands the same;”

“Where the Cabinet Secretary is to be accompanied, at least one (1) of the delegates shall be a technical officer specialised in the subject matter of the foreign engagement, with no security or personal assistants/logistics officers other than as exempted,” Koskei said

“Where the Principal Secretary is to be accompanied, the designate delegate shall be a technical officer specialised in the subject matter of engagement, with no security or personal assistants/logistics officers other than as exempted,” the HPS added

The foreign travels suspended are in the categories such as; Benchmarking and Study Visits; Trainings and related Capacity Building Initiatives; Research, Academic Meetings and Symposia; Conferences and Meetings of general participation; Side Events; Showcase Events and Exhibitions; as well as Caucus and Association Meetings and Events.

More to follow….

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