The county government of Nairobi spent Sh387.2 million on international and domestic trips in the first half of 2019-20.
This is according to the Controller of Budget's report on the county government's budget implementation.
Of the amount, Governor Mike Sonko’s administration spent Sh281.47 million, while the county assembly consumed Sh105.7 million.
Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o highlighted that the money spent on domestic travel was Sh337.9 million. Of that amount, the executive spent Sh232.39 million, while MCAs spent Sh105.5 million.
On international flights, a sum of Sh49.33 million was spent during the period. The executive spent Sh49.08 and MCAs Sh250,000.
The Controller of Budget has also hinted that the county government may have spent Sh632.1 million on 'ghost' development projects in 2019-20.
Nyakang’o said City Hall could not provide a comprehensive list of development projects implemented during the period under review.
“The Sh632.1 million represented 5.6 per cent of the annual development budget of Sh11.27 billion,” the CoB report states.
City Hall had approved Sh36.9 billion budget for 2019-20 comprising Sh25.71 billion for recurrent programmes and Sh11.27 billion for development.
The CoB further revealed that 124 MCAs spent Sh38.87 million on committee sitting allowances against the annual allocation of Sh102.39.
“The average sitting monthly allowance translated to Sh52,241 per MCA against the Salaries and Remuneration Commission’s recommended monthly ceiling of Sh124,800,” the report reads.
In 2018-19, the national government acknowledged that travel expenses were the main avenue of pilferage of public funds by legislators.
Data from the Nairobi county treasury revealed that in 2016-17, MCAs spent Sh162 million on international travels while the county executive spent Sh267 million.
In an attempt to reduce 'wastage' of funds, the Ministry of Devolution introduced measures that required MCAs in all the 47 counties to get approvals ahead of foreign travel.
Consequently, the Nairobi county assembly suspended international trips from October 2018 to February 2019, citing a budget deficit.
