COUNTY GOVERNMENTS SPEND SH30 BILLION ON DEVELOPMENT

The Controller of Budget Report for the first half of the 2014-2015 financial year has revealed an increased uptake of funds, with Sh103.7 billion disbursed to counties compared to Sh42 billion in the same period in 2013-2014. The report also revealed counties spent Sh30.55 billion on development projects, a huge improvement from Sh4.8 billion in the last financial year. During the 2013-2014 financial year, counties spent 22 per cent of Sh103.7 billion to support the health sector, 19 per cent on administration and 12 per cent on public works, roads and infrastructure. County assemblies received 11 per cent of the funds during the period. Nairobi County registered high expenditure, with Sh9.24 billion disbursed in that period. Mandera County spent Sh4.69 billion, Nakuru Sh3.83 billion and Kakamega Sh3.5 billion. Counties that registered least expenditure are Tharaka Nithi, Vihiga, Isiolo and Lamu, which spent Sh986.44 million, Sh915.99 million, Sh594.10 million and Sh.479.94 million respectively. During the period, counties spent Sh48.57 billion on emoluments, Sh29.65 billion on development, Sh23.75 billion on operations and maintenance, and Sh1.72 billion on debt payment and pending bills. Nairobi, Nakuru and Kiambu counties registered highest expenditure on recurrent activities. The three spent Sh8.67 billion, Sh3.13 billion and Sh2.79 billion respectively. The report also indicated that Isiolo, Vihiga and Lamu counties reported the lowest recurrent expenditure at Sh560.42 million, Sh557.22 million and Sh382.95 million respectively. With many county assemblies reportedly facing a cash crunch, spending on MCAs' sitting allowances went down drastically, standing at Sh1.44 billion against an annual allocation of Sh3.79 billion. Nairobi, Kakamega and Uasin Gishu counties reported the highest expenditure on MCAs' sitting allowances, with Sh89.23 million, Sh84.33 million and Sh70.31 million respectively in the period under review. On the other hand, Tharaka Nithi, Laikipia and Vihiga counties reported the least expenditure on sitting allowances for MCAs at Sh6.1 million, Sh4.84 million and Sh2.93 million respectively.
However, Turkana's county assembly's expenditure on MCA sitting allowances exceeded the annual allocation by 413 per cent. The report revealed that Murang'a and Nakuru exceeded annual allocations to domestic and foreign travel by 135 per cent and 104.6 per cent respectively. The Nakuru County executive reportedly spent Sh116.75 million on domestic and foreign travel against an annual budget Sh21 million while Muranga spent Sh50.67 million against an annual expenditure of Sh30 million.