Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza has denied spending Kshs 903.2 Million on Foreign Travel in the just ended financial year 2023/2024.
On a recent post on her Facebook account, she wrote that she is shocked and dismayed by the fact that a government agency can give a false report at a time when Kenya is in need of factual information to avoid civil unrest.
“Since 2022 I personally have never spent a single public coin on foreign trips”Kawira stated
Kawira called on Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakango to correct error in her report showing the county spent close to Ksh 1B on foreign travels.
Kenyans have been utilizing the internet over the last week to hold the government responsible and evaluate how tax payer money is being spent.
The Ksh. 900 million spent by the Meru County Executive in the first nine months of the Financial Year 2023/2024 is one of the key details that has since been brought to light.
This is based on an April 2024 report from the Controller of Budget.
Meru County paid Ksh. 182 million and Ksh. 159 million for domestic travel during that time, respectively, according to the data. All ,Ksh. 342 million was spent on travel within the county.
The County Assembly spent Ksh. 42 million on trips abroad, while the Executive, led by Governor Kawira Mwangaza, spent an astounding Ksh. 903 million.
The report showed how the County Assembly used its funding and included samples of several locations.
These included, among other places, Ksh. 1.6 million for Australia, Ksh. 1 million for Tanzania, Ksh. 1 million for Dubai, and Ksh. 2.5 million for Kampala.
The County Assembly spent Ksh. 28 million and traveled to Arusha, Tanzania, fourteen times in all.
Since then, Kenyans have questioned how the Governor Kawira administration spent Ksh. 900 million in just nine months, casting doubt on the amount.
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