Nairobi tops counties' travel spending, development projects left behind – CoB report

Nairobi County has emerged as the largest spender on travel among all counties, shelling out over Sh863 million in the 2024–2025 financial year on conferences, study tours, and foreign trips, while development projects lag.

In her report, Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o warned that such spending is excessive, unnecessary, and diverts resources from essential infrastructure and services.

“The amount being spent on travel is excessive and largely unnecessary. Counties must prioritise development projects and ensure public funds are used responsibly,” Nyakang’o said.

The CoB report shows that counties collectively spent billions of shillings on training sessions, conferences, study tours, and benchmarking trips.

An analysis of county budgets revealed that 23 of the 47 counties did not meet the 30 per cent threshold required for development spending, instead diverting substantial sums into domestic and foreign travel.

Performed worst

Nairobi County performed worst, allocating only 12 per cent of its budget to development, followed by Machakos (16 per cent), Kisumu (17 per cent), Kiambu and Kajiado (18 per cent), and Nyamira (19 per cent). Ironically, the counties that spent the least on development were also the top spenders on travel.

In Nairobi, domestic travel alone cost Sh630 million—Sh271.28 million by the county assembly and Sh359 million by the county executive—while foreign travel added another Sh232 million. Among the trips was a delegation to Fashion Access 2025 in Dubai, UAE, where one official spent Sh17 million. Officials justified the large expenditure by citing the county’s sizable number of MCAs and staff.

Machakos County, led by Governor Wavinya Ndeti, spent a total of Sh631 million on travel, including Sh532 million domestically and Sh99 million on foreign trips, recording 47 foreign trips within the year. Kisumu County spent Sh491 million, with London and Washington, DC, among the main destinations. One county executive reportedly spent Sh2.7 million attending “various meetings” in the USA. Other frequent destinations for county officials included Dubai, Malaysia, Singapore, the UK, the USA, and Tanzania.

Pending bills

The CoB report also highlighted significant irregularities in pending bills and human resource records across counties, raising concerns over possible misuse of public funds.

Recurrent expenditures reached Sh346.98 billion, representing 91 per cent of the annual budget for recurrent activities—consistent with last year’s 91 per cent absorption rate, when Sh337.53 billion was spent. Of this, Sh220.64 billion went to employee compensation, while Sh126.34 billion (36 per cent) was spent on operations and maintenance.

County Assemblies reported Sh1.57 billion in MCAs’ sitting allowances, equivalent to 87 per cent of the approved Sh1.80 billion for FY 2024/25, a slight improvement from the previous year. Development expenditures totalled Sh123.76 billion, reflecting a 57 per cent absorption rate of the Sh218.99 billion annual development budget, slightly down from last year’s 58 per cent.

The highest development absorption rates were recorded by Nandi (90 per cent), Trans Nzoia (77 per cent), Narok (74 per cent), Meru (73 per cent), and Kericho, Mandera, and Kirinyaga (72 per cent each). Counties with the lowest absorption rates included Machakos (41 per cent), Kisii (40 per cent), Elgeyo Marakwet (39 per cent), Kiambu and Nyamira (37 per cent each), and Nairobi City and Kisumu (29 per cent each).

As of June 30, 2025, the outstanding stock of pending bills stood at Sh176.80 billion, a three per cent decline from Sh181.98 billion in FY 2023/24, mainly due to Nairobi City County reconciling Sh39.78 billion. Significant pending bill balances were also reported in Nairobi City (Sh86.77 billion), Kiambu (Sh7.89 billion), and Machakos (Sh6.73 billion), while Narok’s data remained incomplete.

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• development projects left behind – CoB report

Challenges

Nyakang’o noted several challenges undermining budget execution, including underperformance in own source revenue (OSR), with counties missing the Sh87.67 billion target by 23 per cent; high revenue arrears of Sh124.95 billion; overreliance on the Facility Improvement Fund for more than 50 per cent of OSR; and persistently low development spending.

She also flagged excessive employee compensation, with only eight counties staying within the 35 per cent regulatory ceiling, and a health sector wage bill accounting for 44 per cent of total expenditure.

To address these issues, the CoB recommended that counties develop realistic OSR strategies, reduce reliance on the Facility Improvement Fund, establish mechanisms to collect outstanding revenues, amend legislation to include pending bills as public debt, adhere to legal spending limits, prioritise sustainable development, and revise outdated fund regulations.

Monitoring and evaluation across 36 counties revealed mixed project outcomes, with some initiatives progressing on schedule while others suffered delays due to weak contract management, procurement challenges in medical supplies, and concerns over the effectiveness of equalisation-funded projects in bridging service delivery gaps.

“The recommendations aim to strengthen fiscal responsibility, enhance transparency, and ensure counties can deliver sustainable growth for their communities,” the CoB said.