Tuesday, March 8, 2011

VP's shuttle diplomacy to cost Sh35m

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Taxpayers will pay in excess of Sh35m for the second round of the shuttle diplomacy that Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka is leading to seek a deferral of the International Criminal Court case against the Ocampo Six.

The amounts may double considering that the figure is based on the cost of return air tickets, accommodation and allowances for the six ministers recently appointed by President Kibaki to lobby the governments of countries which are members of the UN Security Council.

The costs, calculated by the Star, do not include the expenses for the support staff including three people from the VP's press service and security personnel who will accompany the ministers.

It might be double the approximate Sh30 million which the VP, Metropolitan minister Njeru Githae and Trade minister Ali Chirau Mwakwere spent in round one of the shuttle diplomacy which has been criticised by civil society leaders and sections of the political leadership who say it is a waste of public resources.

Information easily gleaned from various airlines operating in Kenya to destinations in Asia, Europe and the US where the team will be visiting indicate that a round trip first class airline ticket will cost between Sh517,120 to Sh616,560 (US$6,464 to US$10,207) depending on the destination.

The rate for a night's stay at a four star hotel at any of the capitals where the ministers will be visiting ranges between Sh40,000 and Sh60,000. Each of the ministers will also be entitled to a daily allowance of between Sh48,000 to Sh56,000 (US$600-700). This does not include other allowances or payments which the ministers and their support staff may incur on the trips.

Among the countries to be visited are US, Russia, China, France, UK, India, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Portugal and Lebanon. The return fares to these countries will cost taxpayers in excess of Sh20 million for the six ministers, their support staff and security who are supposed to travel economy while their bosses travel first class.

Accommodation in the nine countries will cost and estimated Sh4 million per day for the six ministers.The team is expected to spend at least two days at each of the nine capitals. The ministers will also be drawing a daily allowance of Sh336,000 for every day they are away.

Kalonzo and his team left yesterday for New York where he is expected to meet with the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon to present the deferral request. The other ministers were scheduled to leave last night and later today.

Morris Odhiambo from Jukwa la Katiba said the second round of the shuttle diplomacy was aimed at assisting the ICC suspects escape justice. “The exercise is not in any way in the interest of Kenyans but is serving the selfish interests of the Ocampo Six. It is unfortunate inhuman that the government can decide to waste millions of shillings to safeguard the interests of a few individuals who are suspects. That money could have been better used on feeding the millions of Kenyans who are starving, strengthening our public institutions and even resettling the IDPs instead of such a self defeating mission,” Odhiambo said.

Harun Ndubi said it was an abuse of the public trust that the people placed int he government to prudently use public resources. “It is clear that the deferral offensive will fail. It is obvious that those engaging in the shuttle diplomacy mission are not carrying the wishes of Kenyans who want justice.This is a misuse of the public money. The VP and his team should admit that they are just going on foreign junkets to enjoy themselves and should not try to persuade us that what they are doing is going to help bring justice,” Ndubi said.

The VP press secretary Kaplich Barsito was confident that the team would convince the UN Security Council to defer the Kenyan case for one year. “Whatever we will be presenting to the UN member states is our position on where we are and why we should be given a chance to try the suspects here. I am confident we will convince them,” Kaplich said.

Lands minister James Orengo and assistant finance minister Dr. Oburu Oginga dismissed the shuttle diplomacy as a sham saying it was bound to fail. “Even the leaders of the countries they will be visiting know very well that our judicial service has not reached the level recognized by the international community to handle such cases,” said Orengo.

Instead of spending public money on the process, Orengo suggested that the government should expend its energies on implementing the new constitution and making the reforms needed to the judiciary.

Oburu said for the deferral request to be accepted or even considered, the government had to establish a good judicial system and ensuring that the suspects did not play a role in deciding who was going to investigate, judge and prosecute them.

Apart from Kalonzo, other ministers appointed by President Kibaki last week include Githae, Sally Kosgei (Agriculture), Hellen Sambili (East African Community), George Saitoti (Internal Security) and Foreign Affairs assistant minister Richard Onyonka.

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