Mayor Khalid Kamau defends $26K spending amid audit by South Fulton City Council
What Mayor Khalid Kamau was doing in Africa
South Fulton Mayor Khalid Kamau said he can explain his expenditures throughout his term in office. He sat down with FOX 5 Atlanta reporter Aungelique Proctor about his travels and a new website and YouTube channel where he says he has uploaded his receipts and photos that showcase what he was doing in Ghana, Rwanda, Colombia and Paris.
SOUTH FULTON, Ga. - South Fulton's Mayor, Khalid Kamau, is responding to accusations regarding the $26,000 he charged to the city last year.
The South Fulton City Council voted last month to conduct an audit of his spending.
Mayor Khalid Kamau responds to spending allegations
What they're saying:
The mayor has come under fire for traveling internationally and allegedly telling no one. Mayor Kamau says that is not true. "I have been traveling the diaspora promoting the city of South Fulton," Mayor Khalid Kamau told a Ghanaian talk show. He visited Ghana in December 2024 to spur more economic development in the city of South Fulton. The city is 92% African American, with a median household income of $82,000.
Kamau hosted Mayor Mondays this week, where he gave the public tours of his newly renovated office. The mayor, who is running for re-election, says it is time to stop bickering with one another and begin marketing and growing the city. "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," the young mayor said. "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 said.
The mayor says he has created a website and YouTube page with his travel receipts and lots of pictures showing exactly what he was doing in Ghana, Rwanda, Colombia, and Paris. "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.
South Fulton City Council refutes mayor
The other side:
However, city council member Helen Willis remembers things differently.
"We are not tearing you down, you took your Black behind over to Africa for 20 days and didn't tell anybody," District 3 Council woman Helen Willis said.
What's next:
The issue will likely come up again at Tuesday’s work session and the Council Meeting at City Hall.
The Source: FOX 5's Aungelique Proctor spoke with South Fulton Mayor Khalid Kamau and South Fulton District 3 Council woman Helen Willis. Previous FOX 5 Atlanta reports were also used.