Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has called out Cabinet Secretaries and Principal Secretaries over their 'appetite' for foreign travel.
Speaking at State House on Tuesday, Gachagua said some of these state officials change clothes in airports, as they connect to other countries.
He said that these travels have made it difficult for them to even hold cabinet committee meetings.
"Sometimes I wonder, why do you have to honour all invitations you have been given to every country. Your excellency, sometimes we try to hold cabinet committees we cant. Up to eight ministers are out of the country. Some change clothes at the airport from one country to another," Gachagua said.
The second-in-command said this was the reason President William Ruto decided to limit the number of working days state officials can be out of the country, in a year.
Gachagua said the CSs and PSs should have regulated themselves, and do not have to honour every invitation they receive.
"You (Ruto) took a decision to reduce foreign trips by all these people seated here to a certain number in a year, which is very unfortunate. That should not have been the case," the DP said.
"People should have regulated themselves to travel when it is necessary but because of the opulence that all ministers and PSs were out of the country all the time, the president had to put a stop and say you can only do so much."
He said the head of state receives a lot of invitations, which if he chose to honour, he'd never have time for running the country.
The government last week reviewed guidelines for foreign travel of Cabinet secretaries, PSs, chairpersons and chief executives of state corporations.
In the new guidelines issued by Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service Felix Koskei, the cumulative days a CS, PS or CEO of a state corporation shall be away from the country should not exceed seven days per travel, 15 days per quarter (three months) and 45 days per year.
He said the officers cleared to travel shall only attend policy-related meetings, events or activities for no more than seven working days, excluding travel dates.
