Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru has hit back at a Standard report claiming the county spent Ksh235.37 million on travel, accusing the newspaper of misrepresenting the facts and misleading the public.
In a statement issued hours after the story appeared on the front page of the newspaper on June 29, Waiguru said the figure quoted on the front page combined spending by two separate arms of government and unfairly created the impression that the county executive was responsible for the entire amount.
“For the record, the Controller of Budget’s May 2026 report clearly shows that only Ksh44.87 million was spent by the County Executive on domestic travel. The rest of the figure relates to the County Assembly,” Waiguru said.
The Controller of Budget report indicates that Kirinyaga’s total domestic travel expenditure for the first nine months of the 2025/26 financial year stood at Ksh235.37 million.
Of that amount, Ksh190.50 million was spent by the County Assembly, while Ksh44.87 million was attributed to the County Executive.
Waiguru on Executive Versus Assembly Spending
The governor’s response has brought a long-standing issue in county finances into sharp focus, which is the distinction between spending by the executive and that of the county assemblies.
While both arms fall under the broader county government umbrella, they operate independently, with separate budgets and oversight structures.
The executive implements development programs, while the assembly handles legislation, oversight and representation, often through committee activities that involve travel and meetings.
By presenting the combined figure as a single county expense, Waiguru argued, the report failed to distinguish between these roles and instead placed the weight of the total spending on her administration.
“Ksh44.87m was incurred by the County Executive and not 235.37m as presented in your headline. Please present figures factually,” Waiguru concluded.
Her clarification means that more than 80 per cent of the reported travel expenditure in Kirinyaga was incurred by the County Assembly rather than the executive.
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The report also showed that Kirinyaga did not incur any foreign travel costs during the period under review, setting it apart from several counties that recorded both domestic and international travel costs.
Waiguru maintained that her administration has kept travel spending under control, especially in light of broader calls to reduce non-essential expenditure across counties.
Key Accusations Against Governors
Governors are facing growing criticism over how county governments are managing public funds, following the latest Controller of Budget report.
The data show that counties received Ksh388.37 billion but spent Ksh171.36 billion on salaries, accounting for 44 percent of total revenue, well above the legal ceiling of 35 percent.
This means a large share of public funds is being consumed by wages, leaving limited resources for development.
At the same time, counties spent Ksh13.17 billion on domestic and foreign travel within just nine months, further raising concerns about priorities.
Counties Highlighted
The report singles out several counties for particularly high travel expenditure.
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Nairobi County recorded the highest spending, with approximately Ksh1.2 billion on domestic travel and Ksh373.61 million on foreign travel during the review period.
Machakos County also featured prominently, spending around Ksh249.15 million on domestic travel and Ksh64.89 million on foreign trips.
In Baringo County, spending totaled about Ksh302.9 million on domestic travel and approximately Ksh20.64 million on foreign travel.
Homa Bay County spent approximately Ksh279.82 million on domestic travel and recorded no expenditure on foreign trips, placing it among counties with high local travel costs despite having no international travel allocation.
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