Nairobi County has topped the list of counties that registered huge county budget expenditure.
The report released by the controller of budget, Agnes Odhiambo revealed that Nairobi used a total of sh286, 999, 000 on both foreign and domestic trips.
Nairobi was closely followed by Nakuru and Bungoma counties that posted an expenditure of sh197, 300, 000 and sh 188, 900, 000 respectively.
Lately, MCAs have been publicly criticised for engaging in numerous foreign trips that have never had any tangible impacts on performances of their counties and respective wards. The county representatives claim to make bench marking trips of which the outcomes are yet to be felt by the local citizens.
On a better note, the counties that posted a significantly lower travel expenses that had less than a quarter of the expenses of the top spenders. In the list of such counties appear Mandera, Kwale, Narok and Elgeyo Marakwet counties that spent as low as sh40 million.
In a stern warning, the controller of budget warned counties against unnecessary borrowing from banks without following due processes for approval. She expressed her concerns that a number of counties had acquired loans from domestic banks without due approval from the national treasure, a fact she cited as being unconstitutional.
Ms Odhiambo also urged county governments to develop strategies that shall help them in revenue collection, monitoring, and evaluation to ensure accountability and transparency in service delivery.