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Govt to purchase properties for Kenyan embassies abroad, aims to reduce rental expenses

Kenya High Commission in London. (Photo: Kenya High Commission in London)

By Erick Kariuki | Monday, June 10, 2024

The Committee on Defence and Foreign Relations warned that rental expenditures for diplomatic properties were rising.

The government, through a programme known as the Assets Acquisition and Management Plan (AAMP), will purchase properties for Kenyan embassies abroad as it aims to cut down rental expenses.

In coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs led by Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, the Budget and Appropriations Committee, chaired by Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro, unveiled the programme through which the government will decide scenarios where it will purchase the properties or sign a lease.

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This decision was attributed to the Committee on Defence and Foreign Relations, which warned that rental expenditures for diplomatic properties were rising amid President William Ruto's policies to cut down on government costs.

"To address the problem of ever-increasing rental expenditures by missions, the State Department for Foreign Affairs has developed an Assets Acquisition and Management Plan (AAMP) that provides a criterion for determining the missions where Kenya should own diplomatic properties, the optimal property mix for different missions, and proposes a fifteen-year plan of acquisition," Nyoro's committee report read.

Raychelle Omamo, former Cs for Foreign Affairs in President (Rtd) Uhuru Kenyatta’s regime, explained that leasing costs had been on the rise over the years.

According to Omamo, five years ago, Kenya spent Sh1.5 billion on rent every year and as of 2021, it had risen to Sh3 billion. Purchasing a property at the cost of Sh5 billion annually for 15 years instead proves prudent, as the government would only allocate funds for maintenance and salaries for workers.

The idea to purchase properties was first floated around 2020 but faced various challenges.

In May 2024, the purchase of a new London embassy and renovation of the New York facility were projected to cost Sh1.74 billion, starting in July this year, a cost that will be met by taxpayers.

However, as the government plans to cut down on costs, audits conducted by the Office of the Auditor General, Nancy Gathungu, warn that more expenses will be incurred from maintenance and renovations judged by the state of several Kenyan embassies and high commissions abroad.

Residences for Kenya’s High Commissioners in Islamabad and London are not habitable, a recent audit of the State Department for Foreign Affairs has revealed.

Auditor General Nancy Gathungu, in the financial year 2022-2023 audit report, revealed that the residences for Kenya’s High Commissioners in Islamabad and London are not habitable.

A contractor tasked with constructing the chancery building and high commissioner’s residence abandoned the site in 2014 after receiving Sh415 million out of the proposed Sh418 million.

The department signed another contract for the completion of pending work at a revised price of approximately Sh56 million. Nonetheless, various defects, including inadequate drainage, incomplete work on lifts, cracked walls, and poor workmanship, were visible.

The poor work necessitated the department to source for another contractor and as of November 2023, no deal had been signed.