Kenyan Taxpayer Dollars Reportedly Spent in Nashville

 

Last week officials in the African nation of Kenya reportedly sent a large delegation to the National Conference of State Legislatures’ meeting in Nashville, and the taxpayers of that country had to pay for it.

This, according to the Kenyan-based Daily Nation, which reported that President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration wants cuts on foreign travel as part of a wide range of austerity measures.

Orange Democratic Movement leader Raila Odinga (pictured above) reportedly demanded answers from the Senate and National Assembly after learning Parliament spent tens of millions of shillings for lawmakers to attend the Nashville conference.

“The report by the Nation stated that taxpayer money will cater for flights and accommodation for 85 legislators and members of staff, the largest in the world, to attend a legislative assembly in Nashville, Tennessee,” according to The Daily Nation.

Odinga reportedly wanted to know who is in the delegation, which aides attended the conference, how much allowance money the delegation received, and why they felt it necessary to go, the website reported.

“Mr. Odinga accused the National Assembly of misusing its powers and assuming that it is beyond scrutiny,” The Daily Nation reported.

“Even worse, he said, is for the institution ‘to pretend it can intimidate the media into abandoning the watchdog role that it is constitutionally assigned to play.’”

Nigeria was the only other country that sent a large delegation. That country reportedly flew 20 legislators to the United States. “Many other countries have sent between one and six delegates. They include Indonesia (one), Portugal (two) and Japan (six), the website reported.

According to The National Conference of State Legislatures’ website, the event took place last week in Nashville, Aug. 5-8.

Scheduled presenters were Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jon Meacham, former Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker, and current Illinois Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

Country Music singer Dolly Parton and CNN political contributor Van Jones were also scheduled to present, according to the group’s website.

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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].