A damning new report from the Controller of Budget has exposed a staggering culture of waste and extravagance within the Nairobi County government, placing Governor Johnson Sakaja firmly in the crosshairs over a massive travel spending spree that has drained billions from critical public services.
This comes amid a perfect storm of stalled development, mounting pending bills, and a crippling revenue shortfall.
While the residents of Nairobi grapple with broken roads, uncollected garbage, and failing healthcare facilities, Governor Sakaja’s administration has been on a global jet-setting spree.
The latest budget review reveals that Nairobi County has burned through a jaw-dropping KSh 1.55 billion on both domestic and international travel in just the first nine months of the 2025/2026 financial year.
This eye-watering figure makes Nairobi the undisputed champion of county travel expenditure.
According to the report by Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o, the county spent KSh 1.18 billion on domestic travel alone and a further KSh 373.61 million on foreign trips.
The opposition has been quick to pounce. Embakasi East MP Babu Owino questioned the scale of the spending, posting on his X account: “When will Sakaja stop stealing? How do you spend 1.18 billion shillings on domestic travel? Yaani kuenda Mombasa ni billions!!”.
A Culture of Global Gluttony
The report paints a picture of an administration that has prioritized luxury travel over service delivery.
In just two months alone between September and October 2025—Sakaja’s County Executive Committee members squandered KSh 78.16 million on foreign trips .
The breakdown of these international junkets is alarming:
Geneva, Switzerland: Six CEC members spent a staggering KSh 16.87 million attending a sustainable finance summit, while a separate delegation of eight members attending the same event spent another KSh 19.49 million.
Five more officials attended a mayoral meeting in Switzerland at a cost of KSh 15.22 million.
New York, USA: Five CEC members spent KSh 9.34 million at the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), while another four attended the same event costing an additional KSh 8.73 million.
China: Two officials traveled to Fujian Province, spending KSh 4.34 million on a trip that lasted just four days.
Russia: A delegation attended the BRICS Urban Future Forum, costing taxpayers KSh 4.14 million .
This is not an isolated incident. Data reveals that Nairobi is a serial offender, having previously spent over KSh 800 million on travel in the 2024–2025 financial year.
The Controller of Budget noted with concern that county officials are globetrotting to high-end destinations like Dubai, Malaysia, the UK, Singapore, and Switzerland under the guise of “benchmarking” and “leadership training,” with little to show for the massive expenditure.
Financial Mismanagement Amid a Crisis
The hypocrisy of this spending spree is magnified by Nairobi County’s dire financial situation. The report highlights that the county only managed to collect KSh 5.31 billion against a revenue target of KSh 21.18 billion a paltry 25% collection rate.
Despite preaching austerity, Sakaja’s government is spending recklessly while the county is drowning in debt.
Pending bills have ballooned to a colossal KSh 80.04 billion, crippling suppliers and stalling development projects.
The county spent a mere KSh 859.4 million on actual development, a fraction of its budget, as funds were instead diverted to administrative and travel expenses.
Even more concerning is the broader context: across all 47 counties, KSh 13.17 billion was wasted on travel, with much of it spent by counties that neglected their core mandate of building roads, providing water, and improving health services.
Reckless Spending and a Call for Accountability
The report also flagged fundamental governance failures, including the use of manual payroll systems, which exposes public funds to risk, and the lack of a clear plan to manage the county’s ballooning wage bill, which is devouring 44% of revenue—far above the legal limit of 35%.
As the Controller of Budget urges Nairobi to strengthen financial controls and prioritize the people’s needs, Governor Sakaja faces mounting pressure to account for the lavish lifestyle of his administration.
With the 2027 elections on the horizon, this is a political time bomb that the Governor can no longer ignore.
The question remains for Nairobians: while their leaders fly business class to the world’s most expensive cities, who is left to fix the potholes?
