Critic calls Kenyans' trip waste of money

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan. 17 (UPI) -- A critic says Kenyan officials headed for Washington don't even have tickets to Barack Obama's inauguration and will watch it on television from a hotel.

Kalemba Ndile, an ex-minister in Kenya, has condemned the trip as wasteful spending, saying the delegation should stay home and watch it on the 21-inch television he left at the door of Kenya's Foreign Ministry.

Obama's father was Kenyan, and the country takes such great pride in Obama's election as U.S. president that a public holiday was declared in Kenya when Obama won last November, the BBC noted Saturday.

Ndile's criticism of the delegation's trip comes at a time when Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki is seeking $400 million in emergency international aid to help feed 10 million people -- more than 25 percent of Kenya's population.

Only accredited diplomats in Washington have been invited to represent their countries at Obama's swearing-in ceremony Tuesday, which means the Kenyan delegation being led by Foreign Minister Moses Wetang'ula will have to watch it from their hotel, Ndile said.

The delegation has declined to say whether they have been invited to the ceremony.