Counties fail to spend Sh27bn

The controller of budget Ms Agnes Odhiambo. PHOTO/FILE  NATION

In Summary

• Counties only spent Sh13 billion out of the Sh40 billion that was set aside for them in the four-month period between July to October, 2013. Mrs Odhiambo said many counties failed to meet the regulatory requirements to have the funds released to them.
• A review of the expenditure shows that Sh7.1 billion was spent on personnel emoluments, Sh4.9 billion on operations and maintenance, Sh900 million on development and Sh90 million 

 

By Griffins Omwenga
More by this Author

Counties failed to spend over Sh27 billion allocated to them during their first quarter of operation, a government audit has revealed.

Twenty seven county governments failed to spend any money on development and they did not request for money for projects, according to Mrs Agnes Odhiambo, the Controller of Budget.

Counties only spent Sh13 billion out of the Sh40 billion that was set aside for them in the four-month period between July to October, 2013. Mrs Odhiambo said many counties failed to meet the regulatory requirements to have the funds released to them.

None of the 47 counties met the first-quarter absorption target of 25 per cent.

“This low uptake of funds could be attributed to the failure of most counties to meet the conditions for the release of funds as stipulated in the Public Financial Management Act, 2012,” said Mrs Odhiambo in a report published online.

It was established that while some counties had well formulated and balanced budgets, others had deficits, unrealistic estimates, or allocations for unauthorised items.

Because of this, the Controller of Budget approved release of Sh18.7 billion from the County Revenue Funds to respective County Operation Accounts to fund the county budgets during the period under review, out of which only Sh13.3 billion was spent.

Nairobi, Mombasa, Narok and Bomet counties recorded the highest expenditure at Sh2.79 billion, Sh767.1 million, Sh572.6 million and Sh482.9 million respectively.

On the other hand, the lowest expenditures were recorded in West Pokot, Lamu, Elgeyo/Marakwet and Wajir counties at Sh46.3 million, Sh58.6 million, Sh67.9 million and Sh72.5 million respectively.

Out of the total expenditure, Sh11 billion (82.7 per cent) was spent by county executives on salaries and allowances and Sh2.31 billion (17.3 per cent) was spent by the county assemblies for the same.

A review of the expenditure shows that Sh7.1 billion was spent on personnel emoluments, Sh4.9 billion on operations and maintenance, Sh900 million on development and Sh90 million on servicing of debts and pending bills.

Counties that had the highest ratio of development expenditure to total expenditure were Nyeri (30.3 per cent, Tana River (26 per cent) and Tharaka Nithi (25.5 per cent).

The counties with the highest absorption rates were Bomet (12.3 per cent), Nairobi City (10.8 per cent) and Trans Nzoia (7 per cent) while those with the lowest absorption rates were Mandera (1.2 per cent), Wajir (1.3 per cent) and West Pokot (1.3 per cent).

“Most counties had not prepared their annual procurement plans well in advance to ensure funds are immediately utilised when disbursed,” read the report by the Controller of Budget office.