Waiguru Fires Back at Standard Over Ksh235M Travel Spending Claim

Jukwaa

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

In a statement issued on Monday, June 29, she accused the newspaper of presenting misleading figures from the Controller of Budget’s (CoB) latest implementation report.

The governor argued that attributing the combined expenditure to her was inaccurate and called on the newspaper to outline the figures accurately.

“A clarification to Standard Kenya Your ‘Spending Spree’ headline in today’s newspaper is misleading,” she wrote.

📌 What You Need to Know

Waiguru explained that the CoB’s May 2026 report shows that the County Executive spent Ksh44.87 million on domestic travel during the review period, while the remaining Ksh190.50 million was incurred by the County Assembly.

“For the record, the Controller of Budget’s May 2026 report (Page 289) on Kirinyaga was clear that KSh44.87 million in domestic travel expenditure was incurred by the County Executive, not KSh235.37 million as presented in your headline. Please present the figures factually,” she added.

The clarification followed a Standard Media front-page story highlighting expenditure on domestic travel by county governments, citing the CoB report.

The publication reported Kirinyaga's domestic travel expenditure as part of a wider story warning that counties are spending heavily on travel, allowances and salaries at the expense of Kenyans needs including roads, health, water and other services.

Kenyans.co.ke has reviewed the official report, confirming that the county recorded total domestic travel expenditure of Ksh235.37 million during the first nine months of the 2025/26 financial year, comprising Ksh190.50 million by the County Assembly and Ksh44.87 million by the County Executive.

Waiguru’s response comes amid escalating criticism of Standard Media Group by allies of President William Ruto over its coverage of his administration.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke

0 0