Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has castigated Members of Parliament (MPs) and Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) for what he terms as misuse of power.
In a statement released to media houses, Odinga said the move by the lawmakers to insist on traveling to Nashville, Tennessee using taxpayers' money is unfortunate.
He said he was shocked by the manner in which the lawmakers reacted to a story published on the Daily Nation over the trip.
Odinga said he had spoken to the organisers of the event and he is aware of the plan to misuse public funds, adding that the lawmakers should explain why they must travel to the US, and how they decided who will go and who will remain.
“Parliament and the county assemblies whose members appear in the list have the responsibility to come clean on this matter and explain who is in the delegation being led by the speakers of the Senate and the National Assembly. Parliament has to publish the names of each of the members, the aides of those members attending the conference,” he said.
This comes after it emerged that the lawmakers are likely to spend close to Sh100million of tax payers money during the trip to the US.
“It is a misuse of power for the National Assembly to assume that it is beyond scrutiny and even worse for the institution to pretend that it can intimidate the media into abandoning the watchdog role that it is constitutionally assigned to play. Parliament owes Kenyans an explanation on this matter,” he added.