33 members of the Embu County Assembly have today travelled to Arusha, Tanzania for two weeks to learn basic etiquette.
This comes barely a week after the legislators adjourned the assembly sittings for Christmas holidays. They will resume on February 8, 2022.
This is the second time the MCAs are flying to Arush after they recently visited the Bongo land to learn basic etiquette and campaign language on how they could woo electorates in the next year's general elections.
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This learning experience aimed to help them recapture their seats in the upcoming elections.
During their 14-day stay in Arusha, the lawmakers will earn about Ksh 520,576, according to insider information in our possession. Part of these wages will be drawn from their per diem allowances which stand at about Ksh 37,184 per person per day.
The MCAs' visit will cost the taxpayers Ksh20 million plus an additional Ksh2-3 million training fees which will be paid to the East and Southern African Management Institute (ESAMI).
The MCAs are said to have transferred Ksh10 million from County Assembly Sports Association (CASA) games' kitty to facilitate part of their foreign travel.
Some of the MCAs who were heard complaining that they were broke vowed to push for more foreign trips to finance their retirement.
The politicians are also rushing to earn enough money for campaigns and to repay a Ksh600,000 tax debt for the Ksh2 million car loan that was gifted to them by President Uhuru Kenyatta last year to woo them to pass the Building Bridges Initiative at the County Assemblies.
Some ward reps are said to have not travelled to Tanzania but are going to get their per diems in full.
A few are also expected to return to Embu after arriving in Tanzania to continue with their campaigns for the 2022 elections.
Some of the MCAs who have spoken to K24 Digital in confidence for fear of being victimized said that they did not see any problem with the trip.
They claimed that the trip was all about capacity building.
Embu Senator Njeru Ndwiga has blamed the MCAs for such a tendency of travelling outside the county for matters which can be discussed in Embu.
"You will not find our MCAs in Embu. They are always on the move to Tanzania and Nairobi. This is wastage of public resources," Ndwiga said.
