Counties spend over half of budget on wages, gifts
Lewis Njoka @LewisNjoka
Over half of the money spent by counties in the first nine months of financial year 2019/20 went to paying salaries, wages and other employee benefits, a report by the Controller of Budget has revealed.
The County Governments Budget Implementation Review Report released recently shows that the amount counties spent on salaries was more than twice the amount they spent on development during the same period.
Between July 2019 and March 2020, the 47 counties spent Sh126.3 billion on personnel emoluments comprising 52.3 per cent of the total Sh241.6 billion spent during the period.
On the other hand, the amount spent on development activities during the nine month period was Sh49.8 billion accounting for only 20.6 per cent of the money spent.
Money spent
The counties also spent Sh65.3 billion on operations and maintenance, accounting for 27.1 per cent of all the money counties spent during the period under review.
“The total expenditure by county governments in the first nine months of financial year 2019/20 was Sh241.6 billion and represented an absorption rate of 49.3 per cent of the total annual county governments’ budgets.
The total funds available to the County governments in the first nine months of the financial year 2019/20 amounted to Sh286.7 billion,” reads the report.
Nairobi County spent the highest on personnel emoluments at Sh8.7 billion followed by Kiambu (Sh5.3) billion and Nakuru (Sh4.5 billion).
Isiolo, Tana River and Lamu counties spent the least on personnel emoluments at Sh125 billion, Sh1.4 billion and Sh1.5 billion respectively.
County assemblies reported an increase in the amount spent by MCAs in sitting allowances from Sh1.55 billion last financial year to Sh1.62 billion with two counties flagged for paying higher than recommended by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).
“Homa Bay and Tana River County Assemblies reported higher average monthly expenditure on sitting allowances to MCAs than the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) recommended monthly ceiling of Sh124,800,” the report says.
The approved aggregate estimates for 47 counties for the entire financial 2019/20 was Sh498.95 billion comprising Sh300.01 billion (60.1 per cent) recurrent expenditure and Sh198.85 billion (39.9 per cent) for development expenditure.
Equitable share
This amount comprises Sh316.5 billion equitable share of revenue raised nationally, Sh22.9 billion total conditional grants from the National government, Sh39.09 billion total loans and grants from development partners, Sh57.82 billion generated from own revenue sources, and Sh51.33 billion cash balance from financial year.
The Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o recommends that County governments contain personnel emoluments at sustainable levels and in compliance with Public Finance Management (County Governments) Regulations, 2015.
