How Nairobi County spent Sh1.2 billion on trips in nine months

Nairobi County blew Sh1.21 billion on local and foreign trips in the first nine months of the financial year 2023-2024, the Controller of Budget has revealed in a report.

The report states that the Executive spent Sh902.19 million while Sh314.24 million was spent by Members of the County Assembly (MCAs).

The expenditure on domestic travel amounted to Sh567.60 million, comprising Sh244.76 million spent by the assembly and Sh322.84 million by the Executive, led by Governor Johnson Sakaja.

The expenditure on foreign trips amounted to Sh 658.83 million, with MCAs spending Sh69.48 million and the Executive Sh589.35 million.

In the report, Controller of Budget (CoB) Margaret Nyakang'o revealed that the county assembly failed to provide documents and details on the foreign travel.

"The county assembly did not provide information on foreign travel despite the Controller of Budget approving 12 foreign travel requests over the nine months of the financial year," reads the report.

During the period under review, the Executive had 10 foreign trips. The CoB highlighted that 19 officers travelled to Marrakesh, Morocco, from June 10 to 24, 2024, to attend a proactive management programme, for Sh37,235,843 million.

On December 5-11 last year, 14 officers attended a seminar on leadership management and conflict resolution in Vancouver, Canada, for Sh10.92 million. Another group of 14 officers travelled to Vancouver for a workshop on the same topic, with expenses amounting to Sh9.6 million.

Eight officers participated in a personal branding and professional summit in Dubai from August 22 to September 7, 2023, costing Sh8.99 million.

Another set of eight officers attended a series of summits alongside the 8th United Nations General Assembly in New York from September 16 to 23, 2023, with a total expense of Sh8.782,76 million.

Additionally, eight officers were sent to Vancouver for a conference on experimental learning and process implementation from June 30 to July 30, 2023, costing Sh6.76 million

On October 17-21, 2023, seven officers attended the FIAT/IFTA world conference in Locarno, Switzerland, costing Sh 5.36 million.

In the same month, eight officers participated in a water inclusivity and sewerage conference in Tokyo, Japan, from October 14 to 22, which cost Sh5 million.

Finally, a group of officers attended a global meeting on school meals in France, incurring a total cost of Sh4.69 million.

The Executive also failed to provide documents for the foreign trips, which the CoB noted was against Section 16 of the CoB Act, 2016 and therefore an offence.

"Information on bank overdrafts and borrowing, status reports on outstanding pending bills, details of bank accounts being operated, and information on foreign travel was not provided," stated the report.

"The county government should ensure they operate within the law and be accountable for public resources."