Kenyan-Born Australian Senator Lucy Gichuhi on the Spot over $2,139 Taxpayers' Cash Spent on Her Birthday
Kenyan-born Australian senator, Lucy Gichuhi is on the spot after allegedly spending thousands of taxpayers' money to celebrate her birthday.
The Sunday Telegraph reports that the Federal Liberal senator has been forced to return the cash she used to buy air tickets for two family members to fly to Adelaide and celebrate the birthday with her.
The daily said the South Australian senator, 56, "held a 50th birthday plus GST' in Adelaide last October. However, Ms Gichuhi has since defended herself, terming the expenditure as an administrative error involving misunderstanding of travel rules.
Records indicate she spent $2139 for two return flight tickets from Darwin to Adelaide as part of her 'family traveller' allowance. Family traveller allowance is a fund allocated for kin to visit politicians on "parliamentary, electorate or official business", the paper says.
The package is provided to enable senators and members to balance work and family responsibilities. Ms Gichuhi said she will return the cash and an additional 25 per cent penalty.
"Regarding the media reports about my travel expenses, this was an administrative error involving misunderstanding of travel rules. I’ve raised an invoice from the department to pay the costs of $2139 in full,"the senator tweeted on Sunday.
"A wonderful night of celebration with family and close friends,' she posted after the birthday party.
"Fifty is the Biblical year of Jubilee, of freedom from oppression and debt, of healing the land, of rest and of new beginnings," part of her birthday speech stated.
"This is my prayer for all of you. Five is the number of grace and jubilee can only happen because of his grace. So, fifty plus GST is a very important birthday for me and I have now also taught you to deduct 10 per cent off your own age – if you want to!"
Gichuhi made history in 2016 by becoming the first person of African descent to be elected to the Australian senate.