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{
    "id": 1491626,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1491626/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 105,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Ogamba",
    "speaker_title": "The Cabinet Secretary for Education",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "we have not done it yet to confirm how much money has been saved, how many people have travelled, et cetera . However, the numbers have reduced. Sen. Cherarkey wanted to know why non-essential travel was banned. It is because many people were traveling without good reason and it increased the cost of foreign travel by the Ministries. Therefore, it became necessary to ensure that there are regulations and guidelines to limit the number of travels that are not essential. As I said earlier, some of the activities can be performed by officers we have in those foreign countries or could be done using online meetings. It became necessary that we limit the numbers to reduce costs. It is a cost-cutting measure across the Ministries and various Government sectors and this is one of them. To answer Sen. Onyonka, yes, the number was reduced. Initially, you would find a Cabinet Secretary travelling with a big delegation. So, the number was reduced. There is a provision for a delegation size in that particular circular. For example, delegations headed by a Cabinet Secretary shall not exceed three persons, including the Cabinet Secretary as the head of the delegation. You need to decide if you are going with one other person. If it is a technical meeting, you should go with a technical person, so that you do not carry all and sundry when you are travelling. A delegation headed by a Principal Secretary (PS) shall not exceed two persons, including the PS. That is one plus one. Where a chairperson of a state corporation is travelling, they will not travel with any other person. They have to travel alone. That is one plus zero. A delegation headed by Chairpersons or Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of constitutional commissions are allowed one plus one. That is the Chairperson or the CEO plus one other person. This is the model we are following and obviously, it has reduced costs and expenses. As I indicated, we have not done the actual figures, but we are going to do that because now we have finished one year. Regarding the question relating to requests from the universities, we do not have the exact number. As indicated earlier, when a request comes, an assessment is done against the circular. We have to ask whether what a university vice chancellor or don going to do is essential, or whether it can be done by somebody else. We also look at the number. We are following that closely. We have not arbitrarily rejected or not approved an essential travel. However, where we see that is not essential, or the number exceeds what is required, of course, we rationalise and do not approve. Thank you. I submit."
}