Jitters in hospitality industry after Treasury bans hotel training, meetings

Operators in the country’s hospitality industry are worried a lot after Treasury Principal Secretary Julius Muia’s November 1, 2022 directive.

Muia directed all accounting officers in all the government ministries, departments and agencies to revise their budgets downwards in tandem with President William Ruto’s plan to trim the current fiscal year's budget by Sh300 billion.

The National Treasury directed all state departments to hold all government meetings and training in their boardrooms.

Muia said it was inevitable to trim some activities and manage expenditures.

“It has become inevitable to cut down on some activities and effect control measures to manage expenditures,” Muia said.

However, a section of the hospitality industry players has raised their concerns over the National Treasury’s directive and complained that it would have negative implications on the industry which relies on guest and event frequencies.

Kakamega County Hoteliers Association chairman William Owuya opined Muia’s directive would impede President William Ruto’s plan for the promotion of small and micro enterprises in the country.

Owuya questioned the PS’s decision to ban government activities from being conducted in hotels while still expecting the economy to flourish.

"How do you ban meetings, training and lunch from being taken from hotels and expect the economy to grow?" Owuya posed.

The National Treasury has issued the directive to control the expenditure on public service, which is aimed at lifting the burden of public debt from Kenyans.

In order to achieve a recurrent budget surplus, Ruto promised to reduce the recurrent expenditure further by the third year of his tenure.