MPs question Sh20M annual rent for UN diplomats
Parliament in session on November 9, 2023.Lawmaking should be thorough to ensure inclusivity and compliance with ratified treaties.
What you need to know:
- A report by the committee chaired by Belgut MP Nelson Koech shows the Missions have distinct premises, ambassadors, and staff yet they operate within the same city and neighbourhoods.
- The committee, which conducted Oversight Visits to the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Kenya to UNON & UNEP and the UN-Habitat in Nairobi, has recommended a merger of the two Missions.
Members of Parliament have recommended the merger of the UN missions in Nairobi as well as purchase of property to eliminate their lease expenses that amount to more than Sh20 million annually.
Kenya spends the money to lease office space for its chanceries and residences of the Permanent Representatives to the UN Missions in Gigiri, highlighting the burden taxpayers shoulder to maintain diplomats in Nairobi.
The National Assembly’s Departmental Committee on Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Relations says Kenya has two Permanent Missions at the UN Complex in Nairobi, which are housed separately on expensive leased premises.
Kenya has two Missions to the United Nations (UN) domiciled in Nairobi --the Kenya Mission to UNON/UNEP and the Kenya Mission to the UN-HABITAT.
A report by the committee chaired by Belgut MP Nelson Koech shows the missions have distinct premises, ambassadors, and staff yet they operate within the same city and neighbourhoods.
“The property housing the Mission (UN-Habitat) is leased at a monthly rent of Sh600,000 paid in half yearly instalments,” Mr Koech said in an inspection report of the two Missions.
“The cost of leasing in the upmarket Gigiri and Runda locations was high leading to incurring high expenses on rent.”
Kenya operates a Permanent Mission to the United Nations Office in Nairobi (UNON) and the United Nation Environmental Programme (UNEP) where it pays Sh600,000 monthly or Sh7.2 million annually in rent for the Chancery alone.
The country also runs a Permanent Mission to the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) which had one property in Gigiri on lease which expired on September 30, 2023.
The committee, which conducted an Oversight Visit to the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Kenya to UNON & UNEP and the UN-Habitat in Nairobi, has recommended a merger of the two missions.
“The Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs should merge Kenya’s two missions to the UN within Nairobi, the Mission to UNON/UNEP and the Mission to UN-HABITAT,” Mr Koech said in a recommendation to the House.
“This is necessary in order to cut operating costs.”
The committee wants the merged missions to operate with distinct divisions focused on the respective mandates of UNON/UNEP and UN-Habitat.
The committee wants the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs to buy land to set up chancery premises and residential premises for the Head of Mission, as a long term measure to address the cost of rent.
The team has also recommended that the ministry gives the merged mission financial autonomy of operating its own budget as approved by Parliament.
Currently, the two missions have separate allocated budgets under a vote in the State Department for Foreign Affairs and they do not have bank accounts with their expenditure being authorised and processed at the ministry level.
The Treasury allocated Sh96 million to Kenya’s mission to UNON and UNEP and Sh84.4 million to the UN-Habit in the current financial year which are both administered under the State Department for Foreign Affairs.
Mr Koech said the two mission’s budgetary allocations have decreased over the last four years against a backdrop of an expanded mandate, increased staff, high cost of living, and austerity measures instituted by the government.
“The mission is expected to participate in various meetings related to urbanisation, human settlement and other activities under the UN-Habitat mandate,” Mr Koech said.
“However, the travel item under the budget is always targeted for budget cuts leading to inadequate budget to effectively cover the meetings organised beyond the UN-Habitat headquarters in Nairobi.”
The committee has further recommended a review of remuneration and benefits of staff working at the UNON/UNEP and UN-Habitat missions to be at par with other staff working in foreign missions.
The committee said the officers at UNON/UNEP and UN-Habitat are paid a top-up allowance equivalent to 10 percent of the Foreign Service Allowance (FSA) payable to officers in the same grade in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The MPs want the Ministry to implement a proposal to raise the top-up allowance to 50 percent of the FSA paid in Addis Ababa for corresponding job groups.
They also want staff to serve for at least four years as opposed to the current two years to address the high turnover arising from redeployment.
“The Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs has 90 days to spearhead the implementation of these recommendations and report and report to the House.
