- Parliament was to send a delegation of about 15 members — five from the Senate and the rest from the National Assembly.
- Following the Coronavirus outbreak, general debate and all planned side events have been cancelled.
Image: FILE
MPs who were due to travel to New York for the UN Status of Women Conference will have to refund about Sh19.8 million in per diems.
Parliament was to send a delegation of about 15 members, five from the Senate and the rest from the National Assembly.
Each was to pocket about $1,200 daily (Sh120,000) — the average rate for a stay in New York — for the days they were to be in the United States. Considering that the conference was to last from March 9 to 20, they were to spend 11 days on average. However, with travel, the trip would have taken 14 days.
The Parliamentary Service Commission had processed the funds in readiness for the trip before the call from New York came.
National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi called for the refund, citing a communication from UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres indicating the meeting would only last a day owing to the Coronavirus pandemic. He said they received the UN communication through the Ministry of Public Service, Youth and Gender Affairs.
"Member States will be represented at this meeting by their Permanent Missions based at the UN Headquarters in New York," read the message from the speaker to the House yesterday. The UN said that following the outbreak, general debate and all planned side events had been cancelled.
"Countries have been advised against sending any delegations to the 64th CSW taking place in New York," Muturi said.
The scheduled travel by the representatives of the National Assembly, therefore, stands cancelled with immediate effect, he added.
"This will be so unless contrary information is received from the UN. The House should note that the ongoing pandemic may affect other future travels," Muturi said.
"I, therefore, request Members to be patient and bear with us on this matter of international magnitude. The House is thus accordingly guided."
Public Service Cabinet Secretary Margaret Kobia told the Star the country's statement, which was to be delivered by the Gender Department, would be read by Lazarus Amayo — Kenya's Permanent Representative to the UN.
She said the national government has equally taken advice from the UN not to send any delegations to the CSW64. Women lawmakers were to attend the UN forum under the Kenya Women Parliamentary Association.
The tour, apparently owing to its lucrative nature, had attracted a lot of interest in Parliament when male MPs sought to take part. Women MP put a fight against the push, saying the men should be locked out for "refusing to support the women in the contentious gender bill".
"We are going to discuss women issues and the men will not go with us," Nandi Woman Representative Tecla Tum said at the height of the debate.
She was backed by nominated MP Cecily Mbarire, who said the men should have met a cut to be included. "We don’t want just to carry a male delegation. We want men who support the cause of women in this country through action," she said.