Nyeri’s Budget Unveiled: Governor’s Residence at Sh26m and DG’s Car at Sh13m
In the 2023/2024 fiscal year, the Nyeri County government has budgeted Sh26 million for the construction of the governor’s official residence and Sh13 million for the purchase of the deputy governor’s official vehicle.
Mr. Robert Thuo, executive director of finance, presented the County Assembly with a Sh8 billion budget estimate on Thursday evening.
After reading the county budget to the media, Mr. Thuo defended the allocations by arguing that they were justifiable.
Mr. Thuo stated that the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) prohibits counties from paying governors housing allowances.
“The SRC permitted the counties to construct homes for the governors. It makes economic sense to construct a home for a governor so that the next governor can occupy it as the official residence. Unfortunately, only a few counties have adhered to this,” the CEC stated.
The decentralized unit allocated Sh20 million during the current fiscal year, which ends on 30 June, for the construction of the governor’s official residence.
Mr. Thuo stated that the purpose of allocating Sh13 million for the deputy governor’s official vehicle is “to ensure that leaders are driven in relatively safe vehicles.”
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“It is beneficial to view this as a tool for work. We do not want to expose our leaders to potential accident risks when their official vehicles experience mechanical issues. Mr. Thuo stated, “We need to replace some of the vehicles because the cost of maintaining them will exceed the cost of purchasing new ones.”
The Sh8 billion budget consists of a Sh6.4 billion equitable share, Sh738,3 million in loans and grants, and Sh800,000 in revenue from own sources.
The budget consists of a recurrent budget of Sh5,633,690,002 and a development budget of Sh2,414,588,458. This represents 70% and 30%, respectively.
The county government established the Nyeri Health Service Fund and gave it source-spending autonomy. This indicates that the health department is exempt from contributing to the county’s revenue fund.
Health received the lion’s share of Sh2.8 billion, followed by the Treasury with Sh847.4 million and the County Assembly with Sh826.1 million.
Mr. Thuo stated that although they were aiming for Sh800,000 in their source revenue, they had no plans to increase resident levies and fees.
“We have examined additional revenue sources that we had not previously charged for and incorporated them into our revenue base. “The residents of Nyeri should not be concerned because we have not raised their fees,” he said.
The county administration, according to him, will invest in electronic payment systems and data analytics to monitor revenue collection.
Nyeri’s Budget Unveiled: Governor’s Residence at Sh26m and DG’s Car at Sh13m
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