'You Took Your Black Behind Over to Africa for 20 Days' - Fed-up Councilwoman Dunks on 'Black Lives' Mayor Suspected of Abusing Funds

Tensions are rising in South Fulton, Georgia, as concerns grow over how the city’s mayor is using taxpayer funds.

On Tuesday, the South Fulton City Council authorized an audit to investigate Mayor Khalid Kamau’s spending practices and implemented new restrictions to regulate financial decisions.

For context, Kamau—who refers to himself as "Mayor Kobi" on his website—proudly states that he is “America’s first Movement for Black Lives elected to public office.”

According to Politico, South Fulton has the highest percentage of black residents in the nation, with around 90 percent of its population being black.

This backdrop set the stage for the scrutiny Kamau faced regarding city expenditures.

Among the questionable expenses are flights the mayor took without securing the necessary approvals, WSB-TV reported. Financial records reveal that in May, Kamau and an employee traveled to Paris, and in October, he took another staffer to Africa. These trips collectively cost taxpayers approximately $8,000.

When confronted about the spending, Kamau left the meeting but not before invoking race, according to WSB-TV.

“I am so distressed and disappointed that the blackest city in one of the blackest states in the United States of America heading into Black History Month, we are tearing each other down,” Kobi stated.

Councilwoman Helen Willis, who, like Kamau, is black, refused to back down.

“We’re not tearing you down; you took your black behind over to Africa for 20 days and didn’t tell anybody,” she fired back.

Willis expressed frustration over the mayor’s tendency to shift fiscal discussions into conversations about racial unity.

“Mayor, I really was going to let this go, but I can’t continue to sit here and allow you to make it seem like we’re the villains, and you’re the victim,” she stated, as reported by Fox News.

She continued, “Now those cameras are in the back of the room, not because of us. We would love to come to a meeting and just go through this agenda, have a professional meeting. And do the business of the people and go home. But it was you who wanted to go sit around and call us the ‘Blackest city’ and say we want to tear each other down.”

She also criticized the phrase “blackest city,” calling it “disrespectful” and emphasizing, “We keep telling him that.”

Community member Reshard Snellings attended the meeting seeking clarity on expenditures related to travel, meals, and other costs that, in total, amount to roughly $26,000, WSB-TV reported.

“I wanted to find out if taxpayers paid for this trip,” he said. “We should not be asked to go without something so that our elected officials can travel all over the globe.”

Willis later argued that whatever Kamau’s intentions for the Africa trip may have been, they did not align with the city’s needs.

“We need more economic development here and we don’t need to go to Africa in order for the city to have a multi-business deal,” she said.