Meru County officials have come forward to clarify a significant discrepancy in the reported foreign travel expenses of Governor Kawira Mwangaza’s Executive for the last quarter of the Financial Year 2023/2024. Contrary to the Controller of Budget’s report indicating an expenditure of Kshs. 903 million, the actual amount spent was Kshs. 910,000.
During a media briefing held at the Meru County government headquarters on Friday, Ibrahim Mutwiri, the Chief Executive Committee member for Finance, addressed the issue. Mutwiri explained that in the specified period, Meru County’s total foreign travel expenditure was Kshs. 43.75 million. Out of this, Kshs. 42.84 million was used by the Meru County Assembly, leaving only Kshs. 910,000 for the Executive’s foreign travel expenses.
“It is evident that the indicated Kshs. 903.20 million is an error apparent on your record,” Mutwiri stated in a letter addressed to Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakango. He expressed concern that the erroneous report had created a false impression that the County Executive of Meru was indulging in extravagant spending on foreign travel, amounting to nearly a billion shillings.
Mutwiri emphasized the importance of accurate reporting by the Controller of Budget, given its role as a trusted independent commission mandated to report on the expenditure of both national and county governments under Article 228 of the Constitution. He urged the Controller of Budget to retract the misleading information and rectify the error to reflect the actual expenditure of Kshs. 910,000 by the County Executive.
“The correction should be given similar prominence and publication to the general public and TV stations which enjoy national viewership to correct the grave error and the damage which has already been occasioned by the blunder,” Mutwiri wrote in his letter. He stressed that Meru County does not have such a substantial amount of recurrent expenditure to allocate to travel or engage in luxurious and non-essential activities.
Meru County Government Secretary Kiambi Athiru echoed Mutwiri’s sentiments, describing the report by the office of the Controller of Budget as “a big error” requiring immediate rectification.
The county officials’ clarification aims to restore public trust and accurately portray the fiscal responsibility of the Meru County Executive amidst widespread misinformation fueled by the initial erroneous report.
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