Counties spent more than Ksh.17 billion on local and foreign travel in the financial year ended June 2026, with Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o raising concerns over what she termed excessive expenditure.
The finding is contained in the Controller of Budget’s Budget Implementation Review Report, which highlights travel spending alongside other financial challenges facing the 47 county governments.
Nairobi County recorded the highest travel expenditure at Ksh.850 million, followed by Narok at Ksh.758 million, Nakuru at Ksh.655 million, Samburu at Ksh.614 million and Tana River at Ksh.579 million.
According to the report, county officials travelled to destinations including Dubai, Singapore, New York, Dodoma and London for various activities.
These included training on transformative and ethical leadership, emotional intelligence programmes and benchmarking visits on leadership practices.
Nyakang’o questioned some of the travel expenditure, noting that certain activities could have been undertaken locally, potentially reducing the financial burden on counties.
