Kisii, Nairobi, Machakos Counties Spent Below 4% Of Budget On Development – Report
Counties are facing ongoing challenges in development, with the most recent Controller of Budget report revealing that certain counties allocate as little as 2.9% of their budget towards development.
As per the Budget Implementation Review Report, 21 counties allocate less than 10% of their budget towards development, with a significant portion, 60%, being utilized for salaries and wages.
As per Margaret Nyakang’o, the Controller of Budget, Kisii County allocates the smallest portion of its budget to development, accounting for just 2.9%. The subsequent counties with relatively low development spending include Nairobi (3.3%), Machakos (3.5%), Taita Taveta (4.4%), Samburu (5.2%), Nyeri (6.4%), and Baringo (5.8%).
Spending by other counties was as follows; West Pokot (8.7%), Nyandarua (7.0%), Makueni (7.1%), Meru (9.8%), and Kericho (7.6%).
“The development expenditure during the period under review amounted to Ksh.24.81 billion translating to an absorption rate of 12.2 percent of the annual FY 2023-24 development budget of Ksh.203.11 billion,” the report states.
Conversely, Narok, Bomet, Uasin Gishu, Laikipia, and Marsabit counties experienced notable absorption rates for their approved development budgets, reaching 52.4%, 27.1%, 27%, 22.5%, and 21.7% respectively.
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The findings in the report indicate that, in the fiscal year 2023-24, counties allocated Ksh.98.13 billion, which accounts for 58 percent of their revenues, towards personnel emoluments. This is an increase from the Ksh.94.81 billion expended during the corresponding period in the fiscal year 2022-23.
The report also drew attention to concerns regarding emolument spending, revealing that Ksh.7.06 billion of the salaries were manually processed and not included in the government payroll system, constituting 7 percent of the overall wage expenditure.
“This contradicts the government policy that requires salaries to be processed through the IPPD system. The manual payroll is prone to abuse and may lead to the loss of public funds where there is a lack of proper controls,” Nyakang’o said.
As per the report, Nairobi County took the lead in spending on employee salaries, allocating Ksh.7.49 billion for personnel emoluments out of their total expenditure of Ksh.10.81 billion. In contrast, Nakuru County utilized Ksh.3.63 billion for wages and salaries, constituting part of their total expenditure amounting to Ksh.7.04 billion.
Machakos County spent Ksh.3.3 billion, Turkana (Ksh.3.03 billion), Kitui (Ksh.2.96 billion), Baringo (Ksh.3.83 billion), and Kiambu (Ksh.3.68 billion).
Kisii, Nairobi, Machakos Counties Spent Below 4% Of Budget On Development – Report