Cabinet Secretaries had least engagements in North Eastern last year - report

Kenya's Cabinet Secretaries concentrated their activities in Nairobi, Rift Valley and the Coast region for the whole of 2023, with Nyanza, Western and North Eastern aking up the least engagements, research has found.

According to data by Trends and Insights for Africa (TIFA), the 22 ministers held 1,377 activities in Nairobi, 358 in Rift Valley and 246 at the Coast, compared to 127 in Nyanza, 88 in Western and 26 in North Eastern. Activities in the Eastern region tallied 175 while those in Central tallied 141.

TIFA said the overconcentration in Nairobi could be attributed to the proximity of offices but added that concentrating activities in the capital city may result in a limited impact in the other counties.

"The intended benefits of government initiatives may not reach a broader spectrum of the population, hampering the overall effectiveness of policies," the report states, adding that the danger of this is the perception of neglect from alleged inequitable allocation of government resources.

"Residents outside of Nairobi may feel neglected or marginalised, fostering a sense of inequality and dissatisfaction with the government," the report says.

Interestingly, TIFA notes, the ministers had the least engagements in their home counties. Interior Cabinet Secretary Kindiki Kithure recorded the lowest number of activities in his home county of Tharaka Nithi and was followed by Health CS Susan Nakhumicha of Trans Nzoia.

The two had the highest number of visits to other counties.

"CS Kindiki holds the record for visiting the highest number of counties, having successfully covered 41 out of the 47 counties. He is followed by Susan Nakhumicha," the report says.

The ministers who recorded the highest number of home visits were Salim Mvurya (Kwale), Mithika Linturi (Meru) and Zacharia Njeru (Nakuru).

The report further noted that a few of the engagements by the ministers were irrelevant to their dockets. These include political meetings or activities as well as church and funeral attendance.

"Out of all the activities, 77 per cent were relevant to each cabinet secretary's ministry," the report said.

On foreign travel, Europe ranked as the top destination for Kenya's minister, with 48 trips, and was followed by Africa.

Asia and the Middle East were the least popular destinations, recording 21 and 25 trips, respectively.