Kenya's Controller of Budget Nyakang'o Exposes Counties that Spent over KSh 1b on Foreign Travel
- Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang'o detailed how counties spent public funds in the first nine months of the 2024/2025 FY
- Nyakang'o noted officials in over 30 counties travelled abroad for seminars, workshops and conferences that could have been hosted in Kenya
- Nairobi leads the list of counties that spent the most on foreign trips, with an expenditure of KSh 229.79 million during the period under review
Japhet Ruto, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, brings over eight years of experience in finance, business, and technology, offering in-depth analysis of Kenyan and global economic trends.
In the first nine months of the 2024/2025 fiscal year (FY), 30 counties spent more than KSh 1 billion cumulatively on overseas travel, according to a report by Controller of Budget (CoB) Margaret Nyakang’o.
Source: Twitter
Governors, county executives, and ward representatives are among those who spent millions of shillings on job training, study tours, workshops, and conferences in foreign countries, according to the report, which focuses on budget execution.
Nyakang'o questioned why conferences and seminars weren’t hosted in local cities and towns instead of wasting government funds on foreign travel.
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“There is misuse of funds by counties regarding foreign trips because these meetings could have been organised in Nairobi or even nearby towns within the counties themselves," Nyakang'o stated.
Countries visited by county leadership and representatives include Spain, the United Kingdom, the UAE, Qatar, Uganda, Tanzania, Egypt, Singapore, and the United States.
Which counties spent the highest public funds on foreign travel?
According to the report, Nairobi leads the list of counties that spent the most on foreign trips, where KSh 229.79 million was spent in just nine months.
Other highlighted counties include Machakos (KSh 82 million), Lamu (KSh 76 million), Kitui (KSh 66 million), Mombasa (KSh 59.6 million), Nakuru (KSh 57 million), Nyeri (KSh 55.61 million), and Kisumu (KSh 51 million).
Source: Facebook
How much did counties receive?
In the first nine months of FY 2024/2025, the total amount of money available to the county governments was KSh 330.83 billion.
The CoB authorised the transfer of KSh 224.71 billion, the equitable share of national revenue, from the Consolidated Fund to the corresponding County Revenue Fund accounts.
The devolved units raised KSh 45.91 billion from local revenue sources, which accounted for 53% of the annual local revenue target of KSh 87.11 billion.
Tana River, Garissa, Narok, Samburu, Kirinyaga, and Elgeyo Marakwet met their yearly local revenue collection targets with higher percentages of 172%, 104%, 98%, 85%, 74%, and 94%, respectively.
Kisii, Bomet, Taita Taveta, Kisumu, Bungoma, and Machakos had lower percentages of their respective local revenue collection targets, at 41%, 40%, 37%, 36%, 35%, 34%, and 34%, respectively.
Which counties reported the lowest development?
During the period under review, the county governments spent KSh 56.87 billion on development.
The 26% absorption rate was an improvement compared to the KSh 44.89 billion spent over a comparable period in the 2023/2024 FY.
Kenya's three cities, Nairobi (17%), Kisumu (10%), and Nakuru (10%), were among the devolved entities with the lowest rates of development absorption, according to Nyakang'o.
Other counties that focused less on development projects were Embu (16%), Taita Taveta at 14%, and Lamu (13%).
Proofreading by Mercy Nyambura, copy editor at TUKO.co.ke.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
