Meru governor Kawira Mwangaza has addressed a report by the Controller of Budget (CoB) Margaret Nyakang’o which showed that Meru County spent close to Ksh 1B on foreign travel.
Governor Mwangaza was forced to clarify the matter after the report on Ksh900 million spent by the Meru County Executive during the first nine months of Financial Year 2023/2024 was highlighted by a section of Kenyans causing widespread uproar.
Mwangaza in a statement on Friday May 5, 2024, however called out Nyakang’o for her report, terming it as misleading and not factual.
“I am shocked and dismayed by the fact that a Government Agency (COB) can give a false report at a time when our Country Kenya is in need of factual information to avoid civil unrest.
The report, in the first sentence accurately indicates that Meru County spent 43.75 million on foreign travel. Out of this the County Assembly spent 42.84 million,” said Mwangaza.
According to her, the Controller of the Budget gave a false report adding that it might have included a typing error.
Mwangaza on Spending Ksh900 M on Foreign Trips
Governor Kawira in her statement argued that the actual figure should be only Ksh910,000 which was spent by the Meru Executive and not Ksh903 million.
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In addition, the Meru governor defended her leadership arguing that she has never spent any public funds on her personal trips while also highlighting that the report was indicative that the highlighted travels were undertaken by the County Assembly.
“Since 2022 elections I personally have never spent a single public coin on foreign trip. I therefore call upon Controller of Budget to rectify the Error in their Report,” added Mwangaza.
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The Ksh903 million spent by her County during the first nine months of FY 2023/2024 was one of the key aspects that had been highlighted.
Meru County Travel Expenditure
In the report, it was disclosed that the County spent Ksh342 million on domestic travel during the period, comprising Ksh.159 million by the County Executive and Ksh182 million spent by the County Assembly.
For foreign travel, the report divulged that the Governor Mwangaza-led Executive spent a whopping Ksh903 million while the County Assembly spent Ksh42 million.
The report while displaying how the County Assembly spent its funds further sampled various destinations by the County Assembly.
Destinations highlighted by the report included to Kampala (Ksh2.5 million) Australia (Ksh1.6 million), Tanzania (Ksh.1 million), and Dubai (Ksh1 million), among others.
According to the CoB Nyakang’o report, the County Assembly went to Arusha in Tanzania 14 times and spent Ksh28 million in total.
Following the report, Kenyans poked holes into the amount, questioning how Governor Kawira’s administration spent Ksh903 million in only nine months.
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