It could have cost millions of shillings to finance President William Ruto’s three-day retreat with top government officials, based on the average cost of the hotel that hosted them.
Cabinet Secretaries, Principal Secretaries, other top government officials and a retinue of advisers have been at Fairmont Mt Kenya Safari Club – a Nanyuki hotel owned by businessman Humphrey Kariuki.
Yesterday, the opposition Azimio la Umoja Coalition party demanded to know why a government that claims to be committed to austerity was having a retreat at a luxury hotel.
Sources at the hotel told the Sunday Nation that it had been fully booked until this morning because of the meeting chaired by President Ruto and his deputy Rigathi Gachagua.
Earlier attempts by this reporter to book “guest rooms” or “suites” for Friday and Saturday on the hotel’s Website were not successful.
“Sorry, this accommodation is no longer available for the dates requested on our website,” said the message from the hotel.
A brief statement from State House Spokesman Hussein Mohamed released on Monday said the retreat would feature senior ranks of the Executive, including the Cabinet, Presidential advisers and PSs, but the source at the hotel said there could have been as many as 200 people on full-board while others were on half-board.
President William Ruto (right) with Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua (left) and Prime Cabinet Minister Musalia Mudavadi (centre) during the 2nd Day of the Inaugural Retreat for Cabinet and Senior Ranks of the Executive at Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club, Laikipia County.
Hotel costs
Full-board means the occupant gets bed, breakfast, 10 am tea, lunch, 4 pm tea and dinner while a half-board guest gets bed, breakfast, 10 am tea, lunch and 4 pm tea. There are also fees charged for conference facilities. On average, a deluxe room costs Sh28,428 a night.
Efforts to verify the actual cost of the retreat with government officials yielded no results.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u, his PS Chris Kiptoo, State House comptroller Katoo ole Metito, head of the President’s communication David Mugonyi and Mr Mohamed had not responded to queries on the cost of the retreat and its place in the discussion of austerity measures by the time of going to press.
With Mr Kariuki being a friend of President Ruto, it is not clear if there could have been arrangements with him on the costs. It is a possibility a government source has floated without providing any evidence.
During former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s era, Mr Kariuki fought legal battles linked to his Africa Spirits Ltd but has since got a series of court reprieves.
Mr Kariuki was in November last year named by Dr Ruto to the National Investment Council.
The decision to have a three-day retreat at five-star hotels contradicts a directive by the National Treasury in November.
Treasury said official meetings should be held in boardrooms of government offices and departments. It has also ordered ministries and departments not to buy new equipment and to do away with non-essential expenditures. It added that meetings and task force engagements are to be held in boardrooms, suspended new training approvals, limited lunch requisition and suspended approvals for workshops.
President William Ruto addresses government officials at the Inaugural Retreat for Cabinet and Senior Ranks of the Executive at Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club in Nyeri County on January 7, 2023.
Yesterday, the Raila Odinga-led Azimio la Umoja said the retreat—and the costs involved—fly in the face of talk by the President to reduce expenditure.
“Ruto and his team cannot remember what they told us yesterday and this is the biggest undoing of this administration and it is a dangerous trait to a leader. Kenyans have started doubting them because they are full of double-speak, lies and promising what they cannot deliver hence this is a government we cannot trust,” Jubilee secretary general Jeremiah Kioni said. BY DAILY NATION