A former Black Lives Matter activist who was elected mayor of the city of South Fulton, Georgia, is facing heat for charging $26,000 in unauthorized funds with a city-issued purchase card.
A city council member and members of the South Fulton community accuse Mayor Khalid Kamau of spending the majority of the funds on a trip to Africa last year. The city is about 20 miles away from Atlanta.
Councilwoman Helen Willis says he has yet to explain the charges.
“It’s a pretty large amount of unauthorized charges, mainly for international travel,” she said. Willis said the charges were incurred in the last quarter of 2024.
Kamau has denied wrongdoing and said the criticism is a “smear campaign.” He said the trip was for economic development opportunities and he’s working on producing receipts.
“We all realize, we all have not been using the [purchase] card or travel policy the way that they’re outlined in the policy because the policy is just unworkable,” he said in reference to talking with other city officials. “It was written to trick people up and not get things done.”
Willis said 112 receipts “have not been reconciled or submitted” despite the city policy of having appropriate justification of a purchase within 72 hours.
Two other council members, Jaceey Sebastian and Linda Pritchett, have suggested the mayor needs to explain the expenditures. “There are some things that I see in the public that need some explanation,” Sebastian said. The card is not allowed to be used for personal expenses.
Pritchett added that she wants to see the mayor have the opportunity to explain the charges.
A number of residents stood inside city hall on Tuesday, some wanting answers for the unauthorized charges.
“I wanted to find out if taxpayers paid for this trip,” resident Reshard Snellings told WSB-TV. “We should not be asked to go without something so that our elected officials can travel all over the globe.”
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Kamau’s government web page describes him as the “first #BlackLivesMatter organizer elected to public office.”
“America’s first #BlackLivesMatter organizer elected to public office, Mayor khalid is leading a generation of young activists from protests to politics,” it says. “With a population that is 92 percent African-American, South Fulton, Georgia is now the blackest big city in America. khalid is a mission to make America’s Blackest City Black.”
