Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza has called out the Controller of Budget (CoB) Margaret Nyakang'o after it released a report indicating that her office allegedly spent Sh903 million on foreign travel for the first nine months of the financial year 2023/24.
In a statement on her Facebook page on Friday, July 5, Mwangaza said that the CoB erred in the report, maintaining that her office spent Sh910,000 on foreign trips, which indeed adds up in the breakdown of the report.
The governor disclosed that the report accurately indicated that the county government's expenditure on foreign trips amounted to Kshs.43.75 million out of which her office only spent Sh910,000 but erred subsequently in the same paragraph.
"The report, in the first sentence, accurately indicates that Meru County spent 43.75 million on foreign travel. Out of this, the County Assembly spent 42.84 million. But again, the same paragraph has an error either intentional or typo.
"Therefore, the difference should be only Sh910,000 less than 1 million and not 903 million. Fact: Meru County Executive spent Ksh910,000," Mwangaza stated.
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In the Budget Implementation Review Report report seen by Nairobileo.co.ke, in the first nine months of the financial year 2023/24, the county's total expenditure on foreign travel amounted to Sh43.75 million and comprised Sh42.84 million by the County Assembly.
In the subsequent breakdown by the Office of the Controller of Budget, the amount adds to Sh43.75 million and if the County Assembly spent Kshs.42.84 million, then the remaining amount should be Ksh910,000 which was spent by the Governor's office.
"During the period, expenditure on domestic travel amounted to Sh342.00 million and comprised Sh182.11 million spent by the County Assembly and Sh159.89 million by the County Executive.
"Expenditure on foreign travel amounted to Sh43.75 million and comprised Sh42.84 million by the County Assembly and Sh903.20 million by the County Executive," read the report.
Mwangaza called on the Controller of Budget to rectify the error, further claiming that she had personally not spent any public money on foreign trips since the 2022 general election.
