The county government of Nakuru has dismissed reports that it spend Sh25 million on a retreat in Mombasa.
While responding to civil society groups allegations of misuse of funds by MCAs at a meeting that brought together the county government, the media, the civil society and the clergy at Hotel Cathy on Monday, Peter Kibe Mbae who is in charge of Administration, Finance and ICT at the county said such reports were baseless and unverified.
He instead turned the heat on journalists whom he blamed for being too speculative.
"I was surprised to read in the papers how journalists rushed to publish mere rumours. If you don't have the facts, kindly ask and they shall be availed to you, but being speculative and quoting extraordinary figures is not acceptable," he charged.
He however refused to disclose the exact amount that was spent by the MCAs for the bonding trip which caused an uproar in the social media.
Asked why they opted for Mombasa and not Lake Nakuru or Naivasha, he argued that they could not retreat in the same locality maintaining that the trip had been approved by the Controller of Budget Agnes Odhiambo.
He added that the bonding retreat has always been there and this was its third year.
" We've always had these retreats so that we assess our performance throughout the year and this is the third time we are doing so," he said.
During the meeting, civil society activists under the auspices of the Internal Placement and Advocacy Community of Kenya (IPACK) poked holes in the county government excesses and challenged its leaders to exercise restraint especially in their spending.
They promised to host Governor Kinuthia Mbugua for a breakfast meeting to discuss issues affecting the county.