- “Non-government entities are facilitating several Kenyans to participate in this COP28. The list of the people that were cleared by the national government is 51,” he said.
- "The President, he noted, was very clear on reducing the numbers and he has done so."
Image: FILE
The debate surrounding the number of Kenyan delegation to the COP28 summit in Dubai has continued with State House maintaining that only 51 government officials were cleared.
State House spokesperson Hussein Mohamed clarified that the reason why there is a huge number of Kenyans is because many are sponsored by non-state actors.
“Non-government entities are facilitating several Kenyans to participate in this COP28. The list of the people that were cleared by the national government is 51,” he said.
There were reports that the list of participants in the summit showed that Kenya had 763 participants.
It was ranked 12th with the most number of delegates after UAE which has 4,409 and Brazil (3,081).
China and Nigeria both have 1,411 participants.
“We have so many other Kenyans from the private sector, non-state actors, county governments and parliament. Is that part of the Presidency? No,” he said during an interview with Citizen TV on Sunday.
"The President, he noted, was very clear on reducing the numbers and he has done so."
This was also corroborated by digital strategist Dennis Itumbi who stated that the President is keen on cutting down travel costs explaining that the list was reduced from initial 189 to 51.
"He asked for the list of those travelling with him to Dubai for COP28. He got a list of 189 people. He returned it to the bureaucracy and demanded cuts," he wrote.
"It came back as 144. He instructed that the list come down to below 60. Finally, only 51 essential staff travelled from across the government. That was a 73 per cent cut on travel costs."
Hussein added Parliament and counties have their agenda in the meeting and were also advised to reduce the number to what is essential.
Some 97,000 delegates from 195 nations are attending the meeting which started November 30 and ends December 12.
COP28 conference comprised of the fifth meeting of the COP serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA 5) and the 18th meeting of the COP serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 18).
It also includes the 59th meeting of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI 59) and the 59th meeting of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA 59).