Tourism CS Rebecca Miano has come under sharp criticism from Members of Parliament after failing to appear before a National Assembly Committee during deliberations on the Ministry’s 2026/27 Budget Estimates.
The session, held at Bunge Towers on Monday, was chaired by Kareke Mbiuki, who accused the CS of disregarding a critical parliamentary process. Legislators expressed frustration after learning that Miano had skipped the meeting for the second consecutive time.
Tourism PS John Ololtuaa appeared before the Committee on behalf of the CS. However, he informed members that Miano was unavailable because she was at State House preparing for a dinner hosting guests attending the Africa Forward Summit.
The explanation triggered sharp reactions from lawmakers, who questioned the CS’s priorities.
“Waziri should choose her priorities right. Today’s budget meeting was extremely crucial to her Ministry and she cannot skip it because of other assignments,” said Mbiuki.
MPs Question CS Priorities
The Committee Chair further noted that Miano had also missed a similar sitting the previous week, delaying scrutiny of the Ministry’s budget allocations.
MPs argued that the meeting was central to determining funding for projects under the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife.
Abdi Chome criticised the CS for prioritising engagements outside her docket over discussions tied directly to ministry financing.
“Today’s budget meeting was meant to deliberate on resource allocations for projects being undertaken by the ministry. If the CS is serious about her work, she should have been here much earlier than members,” he said.
Captain Ruweida Mohamed also expressed frustration, revealing that she had incurred extra costs to rearrange her travel plans in order to attend the session.
“I had to pay a fee to reschedule my flight to Mombasa so that I could participate in deliberations on financing development programmes within the ministry. It is unfortunate that the CS chose otherwise,” she said.
PS Ololtuaa Struggles to Defend Budget
Despite the uproar, the Committee allowed PS Ololtuaa to proceed with presenting the Ministry’s proposed KSh 17.5 billion budget for the 2026/27 financial year.
However, the PS also faced criticism after struggling to defend the proposed expenditure figures. Committee members accused him of presenting allocations that were not clearly reflected in the financial documents submitted before them.
Mbiuki faulted the presentation, saying the Committee could not process figures that lacked proper documentation.
“Budget matters are about figures, not stories. Since you are ill-prepared, the Committee has no option but to send you back for proper preparation,” he said.
The Ministry of Tourism is now expected to reappear before the Committee on Wednesday to defend its budget estimates.
