Audit Reveals Massive County Travel Expenditure Amid Stalled Projects

Nairobi, Kenya — 2025-09-18 16:45 EAT. A new County Governments Budget Implementation Review Report has revealed that county officials spent hundreds of millions of shillings on domestic and foreign travel while critical development projects remained stalled and suppliers went unpaid

The Latest

• Top spenders: Nairobi, Machakos, Mombasa, and Kitui counties lead in travel costs.

• Impact: Funds diverted from development to recurrent expenses, undermining service delivery.

Key Findings from the Report

• Nairobi County:

  • Domestic travel: Ksh630.3M – County Assembly (Ksh271.3M) & Executive (Ksh359.1M).

  • Foreign travel: Ksh233M to Dubai, Malaysia, Singapore, and Zambia.

• Kitui County:

  • Domestic: Ksh536.9M; Foreign: Ksh72M to Turkey, Ethiopia, Uganda.

• Machakos County:

  • Domestic: Ksh532M; Foreign: Ksh99M to Brazil, China.

• Mombasa County:

  • Foreign travel: Ksh112M to Turkey, Spain, South Korea, Japan, USA.

• Total recurrent expenditure: Ksh346.98B, or 74% of total spending, leaving only 26% for development.

Context and Concerns

• Travel expenses labeled for cybersecurity training or international expos often exceeded allocations for water, agriculture, and other essential sectors

• Suppliers remain unpaid while infrastructure projects stall, raising questions about fiscal discipline.

Voices and Reactions

• Analysts: Warn that unchecked recurrent spending erodes public trust and delays development.

• Civil society groups: Demand budget transparency and tighter oversight of county travel expenditures.

• Residents: Question value-for-money on trips yielding few visible benefits.

Risks and Implications

• Governance: Growing concerns over fiscal mismanagement.

• Economy: Stalled projects undermine growth, service delivery, and employment.

• Politics: Potential public backlash against county leaders ahead of 2027 elections.

What We Don’t Know

• Full list of travel participants and justification for trips.

• Measures counties will take to cut unnecessary expenditure.

• Whether Parliament or the Auditor-General will recommend legal reforms.

What to Watch

• Possible Senate hearings on county fiscal discipline.

• Controller of Budget response and recommendations.

• Any new Treasury guidelines on foreign and domestic travel spending.