NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 6 – Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba has cautioned employees at the Ministry that he will not be approving any unnecessary retreats or foreign trips as he looks to put in austerity measures and ensure they maximize on the limited budgetary allocation they have.
Namwamba has disclosed that he has already had to turn down requests for retreats and foreign trips in just the single month he has been at the helm at the Ministry.
“I have been stringent with things like retreats. There are a number of requests for retreats which I have declined. What we can do in boardroom let’s do in the boardroom. Let us avoid these retreats,”Ababu said.
The CS was addressing directors of different State Departments within the Ministry on Monday as he welcomed the two new Principal Secretaries who are going to work under him.
He added; “I have declined some foreign trips and I have advised politely especially at time when we have so many crises, let us re focus attention to deal with issues needing our attention. We can suspend certain programs to prioritize what is urgent and immediate.”
He says the reason he will have to cut down on unnecessary expenditure is due to the fact that the Ministry’s budgetary allocation from the national government is not huge.
He has also warned that if he has to achieve success in the Ministry, officials need to know it will not be business as usual.
“The finances available to us are quite limited. The Ministry has not been resourced very well and we have to be prudent on how we deal with what we have,”said Ababu.
He added; “I have not been very impressed with the standard answer of “this is how it is normally done” when the requests for retreats come. We call that in governance business as usual. But if we are going to turn around this house, it must be business unusual,”
Namwamba has admitted that the ministry has faced monumental challenges over a period of time, but has reiterated that it is time to ensure that things are done correctly and in a professional manner.
