Nyakang’o Rectifies Meru County Foreign Travel Expenditure Terming It ‘Erroneous’
Margaret Nyakang’o, Controller of Budget, has apologised to Governor Kawira Mwangaza for an incorrect report on Meru County executive expenditure on foreign travel.
Nyakang’o stated that the error has since been corrected, and a new report with accurate figures has been posted on their website.
In a letter to the governor dated July 5, 2024, Nyakang’o stated that the error occurred on page 338 of the County Budget Implementation Review Report (CBIRR) for the first nine months of 2024/25.
According to the report, the CB incorrectly reported that the Meru county executive spent Sh903.20 million on foreign travel during the period under review.
Meru governor Kawira Mwangaza calls on Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o to correct error in her report showing the county spent close to Ksh 1B on foreign travels. #KBCniYetu ^RO pic.twitter.com/28j28keSSJ
— KBC Channel1 News (@KBCChannel1) July 5, 2024
Nyakang’o stated that the expenditure was incorrectly recorded, as the correct amount was Sh903,200 and the ‘word million was erroneous’.
“This was an inadvertent error and we apologise for the omission and misrepresentation,” she said.
Nyakang’o stated that the faulty report has since been removed from the CoB website and replaced with the correct version.
“We commit to take corrective action on the above erroneous reporting in line with our revision policy,” she stated.
Nyakang’o added that corrective action will be included in the Annual County Budget Implementation Review Report for Fiscal Year 2023/2024, which will be released in August 2024.
The CBIRR report highlights the status of budget implementation by 47 county governments from July 2023 to March 2024.
Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza denied allegations of excessive personal spending on foreign trips, as detailed in the initial report.
“I’m shocked and dismayed by the fact that a government agency, Controller of Budget, can give a false report at a time when our country Kenya is in need of factual information to avoid civil unrest,” she said.
In a Facebook post, Mwangaza claimed that the county executive spent only Sh910,000 and that the CoB made an error in calculating the amount spent by her administration.
“The report, in the first sentence accurately indicates that Meru county spent Sh43.75 million on foreign travel. Out of this, the County Assembly spent Sh42.84 million,” Mwangaza said.
“Therefore the difference should be only Sh910,000 less than Sh1 million and not Sh903 million and it is a fact that Meru executive spent Sh910,000,” she said.
Mwangaza also stated that since 2022, she has never spent any public funds to facilitate a foreign trip.
Nyakang’o Rectifies Meru County Foreign Travel Expenditure Terming It ‘Erroneous’
