Nairobi cuts Sh1.1bn projects budget to fund MCAs car grant

An aerial view of Nairobi City Hall. FILE PHOTO | NMG

By COLLINS OMULO
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Summary

• This is after the ward representatives Thursday approved a supplementary budget which reduced allocations to various sectors to pool Sh246 million for the car grant fund.
• Additionally, the sector cuts were also to fund an additional Sh19.7 million allocation for committees’ quarterly retreats and Sh17 million for county assemblies sports association tournament.

Nairobi MCAs have slashed Sh1.1 billion budget for development and building of their offices in order to fund a car grant scheme and other perks.

This is after the ward representatives Thursday approved a supplementary budget which reduced allocations to various sectors to pool Sh246 million for the car grant fund.

Additionally, the sector cuts were also to fund an additional Sh19.7 million allocation for committees’ quarterly retreats and Sh17 million for county assemblies sports association tournament.

In the supplementary budget for the financial year ending June 30, Sh600 million was slashed from earlier allocation for building of offices for the 122 MCAs and their staff.

Another Sh500 million was sliced from development expenditure allocation for the County Assembly Service Board (CASPB).

A further, Sh75 million was cut from Liquor Licensing Board recurrent expenditure.

“That in order to fully finance the transfer of Sh246 million to cater for car grant, the development budget for the County Assembly Service Board be reduced by Sh500 million and the recurrent expenditure for liquor licensing board be reduced by Sh75 million,” said Budget and Appropriations committee chairperson Robert Mbatia.

The new development will now see car loans advanced to the 122 MCAs converted into car grants with each legislator as well as the Speaker due to get Sh2 million.

This will see the city ward representatives become the first MCAs across the country to enjoy the perk dangled by President Uhuru Kenyatta as a sweetener to pass the BBI Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2020.

The Sh600 million cut will hit hard the more than 300 ward staff who will have nowhere to operate as plans to set up offices for their bosses have now essentially been shelved.

The assembly had in the financial year 2019/2020 made the Sh600 million allocation for construction of a new administration block to play host to the offices of MCAs.

From the allocation, Sh50 million was to go towards construction of 13 new ward offices in efforts aimed at improving working conditions for the MCAs and their staff.

The first phase of the construction was expected to commence in 2019 where Sh450 million was to go into putting up the building while a further Sh100 million for the purchase of furniture and computers for the new offices.

Nonetheless, Mr Mbatia defended the budgetary cuts, saying they have had also to forego the luxury of having offices so as to finance the car grant scheme.