MPs have abandoned their splendid Sh9.6 billion multi-storey building in favour of luxury hotels, where they squander millions of taxpayers’ money. It has come to light that lawmakers from both the Senate and the National Assembly have relocated their committee meetings to expensive hotels.
This development comes even though the committee rooms in Bunge Tower, which cost taxpayers a fortune, largely remain unused.
The revelation is a complete departure from the promises given by President William Ruto and the leadership of the two Houses that Parliament would no longer splurge millions on high-end hotels.
“There will be no more requests for travel to hotels because we now have committee rooms here. I want to see a reduction in Parliament’s budget,” Ruto said during the launch of the building in April last year.
In the past two weeks, several House panels have conducted their meetings in hotels, raising questions about the necessity of the tower.
The National Assembly Blue Economy, Water and Irrigation Committee has been holding its meetings at the Hilton Garden Inn on Mombasa Road.
On Tuesday, the panel met with officials from the Ministry of Fisheries and Blue Economy, led by CS Hassan Joho, and those from the Water and Sanitation Ministry, led by PS Julius Korir. An inquiry at the hotel showed the facility charges Sh29,450 per night for a single person.
This excludes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
The hotel charges Sh3,000 per person for breakfast and Sh3,800 for lunch and dinner each. For conferences and meetings, the hotel charges Sh4,600 per person per day.
The package includes tea served three times a day, two bottles of water and buffet lunch.
National Assembly clerk Samuel Njoroge said only 10 per cent of committees are holding their meetings outside Parliament.
According to the clerk, the panels are meeting outside largely because of inadequate space in Parliament.
Some state agencies are also co-financing the meetings held in the hotels.
“Our budget for domestic travel was drastically cut. That is why many committees can’t move outside Parliament. Even the few that meet outside Parliament are not going far from Nairobi,” Njoroge said.
He said Parliament was avoiding taking the committee meetings to places where the House would have to buy air tickets for members because of the drastic budget cuts.
“We have 44 committees against 18 committee rooms (reserved for the National Assembly). Committees have just held their elections, and they are now doing their work plans and priorities so that when the House resumes, we shall have business to transact,” he said.
On Monday, the committee met various stakeholders to consider the protocol amending the Marrakesh Agreement establishing the World Trade Organisation (agreements on fisheries subsidies).
Currently, the National Assembly Defence and Foreign Relations Committee is meeting the Ministry of Defence in Mombasa.
Still in the National Assembly, members of the Public Investments Committee – Education and Governance – have been booked for a three-day meeting at the Holiday Inn in Two Rivers Mall, Kiambu county.
The panel, chaired by Navakholo MP Emmanuel Wangwe, is meeting various state agencies for the examination of the Auditor General’s report for the 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23 financial years.
On Monday, the panel met the National Transport and Safety Authority, National Cohesion and Integration Commission, Kenya School of Law and Kenya National Examination Council.
The panel is also scrutinising the audit reports for Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kabete National Polytechnic, Nairobi National Polytechnic and Kenyatta University. On Wednesday, the team will meet the management of Kisiwa Technical Training Institute and Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology.
Others are Sigalagala National Polytechnic, Alupe University and Meru University of Science and Technology.
Other agencies whose reports the panel is scrutinising are Meru National Polytechnic, Chuka University, Garissa University, Eldoret University and Eldoret Polytechnic.
Others are Machakos University, Wote Technical Training Institute, Michuki Technical Training Institute, Nyeri National Polytechnic, Mathenge Technical Training Institute and Masai Mara University.
On Monday, the Senate Finance and Budget Committee met the leadership of the Commission on Revenue Allocation over the fourth basis for revenue sharing among county governments.
The meeting was held at Four Points by Sheraton, situated at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
Two weeks ago, the same committee met all the constitutional commissions to discuss the Budget Policy Statement at the same venue.
On March 10, the National Assembly Liaison Committee, chaired by Deputy Speaker Gladys Boss, held a meeting with departmental committees over the supplementary budget II for 2024-25 at Trademark Hotel, Village Market. Two days earlier, the same committee had held a meeting at the same hotel.
The same day, the National Assembly’s Administration and Internal Security Committee met the leadership of several agencies, including the office of the Deputy President, to consider the 2024-25 supplementary estimates at the Glee Hotel, Kiambu county.
During the launch of Bunge Tower, National Assembly Majority leader Kimani Ichung’wah disclosed that Parliament spent an average of Sh1.5 million per day every time a committee retreated to a hotel.
“That tells you the amount we will be saving not only in Parliament but also in the government,” Ichung’wah said. Bunge Tower contains 26 committee rooms.
They were opened for use immediately after the building was inaugurated on April 25. Last year, Senate Majority Whip Boni Khalwale urged the chairpersons of committees that continued to hold meetings outside Parliament Buildings to be honest about their actions.
“If they cannot come out and give justifiable reasons why they are holding meetings in hotels, yet we have Bunge Tower with very many committee rooms, then it will not augur well for Parliament,” Khalwale told the Star.
In the current financial year ending June, Parliament was allocated Sh40.33 billion. It is seeking Sh49 billion in the next fiscal year.
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