Members of Parliament made a 17-fold cut on foreign trip spending in the six months to December, an unexpected move that saved the taxpayer a whopping Sh294 million. The Controller of Budget report shows that MPs spent only Sh18.3 million on travelling between last July and December, down from Sh313 million in a similar period a year earlier. The report did not indicate the reason for the cutback on travel expenditure. But MPs domestic travel remained unchanged in the review period at Sh1 billion. The 349 MPs have in the past pushed for higher pay and perks, making them among the best paid lawmakers in the world. This huge cash appetite has portrayed them as greedy in a country struggling with biting unemployment and poverty.