February 11, 2025
Kamau argued that his international excursions were in the city’s interest.
South Fulton’s controversial mayor, Khalid Kamau, continues to defend his spending habits despite an audit launched by the city council.
Kamau has faced heat from both South Fulton’s city council and residents for taking international trips without others’ knowledge. These trips ranged from Colombia to Paris, with a recent flight to Ghana in December.
The costs have racked up to $26k for the city, sparking concerns. However, he shared to a Ghanaian talk show that he is, in fact, “promoting” South Fulton to the global diaspora.
Not only is his travel in question, but also his expensive office renovations. Covered previously in BLACK ENTERPRISE, he also spent $1,800 on a table that transforms into a pool table.
Despite these questionable purchases, Kamau, also known as Mayor Kobi, argued that his spending and travel expenditures helped the city. In light of the brewing investigation against him, Kamau began hosting Mayor Mondays for constituents to tour the new office.
According to Fox 5, he has also used the initiative to defend his case, stating that his promotion of the city as a Black hub opened up new doors.
We’ve been chasing these Fortune 500 companies, trying to get them to invest in our city, and all we get are warehouses and data centers. When I started talking about us being the blackest city in America, we started getting invitations from all over the world,” explained Kamau, who still intends to run for re-election.
He also slammed the allegations that the city council members had no clue about his work travel.
“Here is the crazy thing: I have been sharing with the council for years. After my first trip to Colombia in 2024, I took them all out to dinner; five council members were there. The video in the newsletter is proof. You can see the same council people who are criticizing me are at the dinner,” the mayor continued.
Given the mounting allegations, Kamau made a website listing his travel receipts and pictures of his time in these countries. The matter of his undocumented receipts has also been an issue, with over 100 P-card transactions unaccounted for. Moreover, he addressed why he did not defend his actions at a recent council meeting as well.
“There have been all of these allegations that I have mishandled funds. We had to create an entire website because when I try to make presentations about it at the council meeting, the item was removed from the agenda. I was blocked from speaking,” Kamau said.
Despite his claims of innocence, the city council members are not buying his claims. District 3 Councilwoman Helen Willis pushed back on Kamau’s insistence that they knew about his whirlwind travel.
“We are not tearing you down. You took your Black behind over to Africa for 20 days and didn’t tell anybody,” expressed Willis.
While the political matter wages on, Kamau hopes to further his position at the next council meeting.
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