Nairobi County spent Sh1.55billion on trips amid Sh2.9billion stalled projects
According to the report by Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang'o, the county spent Sh1.18 billion on domestic travel alone between July 2025 and March 2026. Of this amount, the County Executive accounted for Sh1.09 billion, while the County Assembly spent Sh83.42 million.
The Nairobi City County Government spent a staggering Sh1.55 billion on domestic and foreign travel during the first nine months of the 2025/26 financial year, even as dozens of development projects worth billions of shillings remain stalled, a new report by the Controller of Budget (CoB) has revealed.
According to the report by Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o, the county spent Sh1.18 billion on domestic travel alone between July 2025 and March 2026.
Of this amount, the County Executive accounted for Sh1.09 billion, while the County Assembly spent Sh83.42 million.
The county also incurred an additional Sh373.61 million on foreign travel during the same period, pushing the combined expenditure on local and international trips to approximately Sh1.55 billion.
Switzerland accounted for the largest share of the foreign travel expenditure, with the county spending Sh56.7 million to facilitate officials attending the Sustainable Finance Summit held between September 30 and October 3, 2025. Six county officials attended the summit from September 28 to October 4, while another five participated in the Mayors’ Meeting in Geneva from October 2 to October 8.
Five additional county executive officials later attended the 5th UN Forum of Mayors: Cities Shaping the Future from October 6 to October 11 at a cost of Sh4.7 million.
The report further shows that four Nairobi County officials who attended a side event during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York received a combined Sh8.7 million in per diem allowances. Separately, logistics for five officials attending another UNGA side event cost the county Sh9.3 million for the seven-day trip.
In another overseas engagement, Nairobi County spent Sh10.7 million to facilitate seven county executive officials who attended the CNN Perspectives on Africa event in London between October 31 and November 4, 2025.
The county also paid Sh3.7 million for two county executive officials to attend the International Management and Economic Governance conference.
In Russia, two Nairobi County executive officials who attended the BRICS Urban Future Forum between September 15 and September 20 received Sh4.1 million in per diem, while another Sh4.1 million was spent on their travel logistics.
The report further indicates that Nairobi County spent Sh12.3 million to send seven officials to the 31st ICPAK Executive Seminar held in Turkey between December 1 and December 5, 2025.
Another Sh11.6 million was used to facilitate seven officials attending the 2025 International Climate Change Conference in Argentina.
The expenditure comes despite the county’s development spending remaining below the threshold required by law.
During the review period, Nairobi spent Sh5.34 billion on development programmes, meaning the Sh1.55 billion spent on travel represented nearly 30 per cent of the county’s total development expenditure.
“In the review period, the County reported spending Sh5.34 billion on development programmes, representing an increase of 120 per cent compared to FY 2024/25, when the County spent Sh2.43 billion,” Nyakang’o states in the report.
The Controller of Budget also raised concerns over stalled development projects across the county.
According to the report, Nairobi has 36 stalled projects with a combined estimated value of Sh2.90 billion. Despite Sh117.3 million already having been paid towards the projects, the Sakaja-led administration did not provide any explanation for why the projects had stalled.
“Analysis of expenditure by departments shows that the Department of Finance & Economic Planning recorded the highest absorption rate of development budget at 73 per cent, while the Departments of Public Service Management, County Attorney, Inclusivity, Public Participation & Citizen Engagement and Nairobi Revenue Authority did not record any development expenditure. The Emergency Fund had the highest percentage of recurrent expenditure to budget at 346 per cent on an accrual basis, while the Liquor Licensing Board recorded the lowest at 37 per cent,” Nyakang’o said.
