County Assemblies gobble Sh1.6bn in allowances against Sh1.9bn allocation » Capital News
NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 13 — County Assemblies across the country spent a total of Sh1.59 billion on sitting allowances for Members of County Assemblies (MCA) reporting 85.5 per cent budget absorption in the Financial Year 2023/24.
Despite not exhausting a cummulative budget of Sh1.85 billion due to delayed remintances by the National Treasury, the expenditure was still a significant increase compared to Sh1.34 billion in the preceding fiscal year.
Expenditure figures released by the Controller of Budget for the year ending June 30 revealed little regard to austerity measures projected to introduce spending cuts.
In the previous fiscal period, County Assemblies cummulatively absorbed 79.9 per cent of the approved budget.
Budget absorption hurdles
The data highlighted the financial strain faced by County Assemblies in managing their allocations.
Key challenges that hindered overall budget implementation during the fiscal year including the National Treasury’s failure to disburse the June 2024 equitable share, an underperformance in own-source revenue collection, and a high level of pending bills.
Additionally, County Assemblies struggled with excessive expenditure on personnel emoluments and travel costs, further complicating efforts to focus on development programs.
“The key challenges that adversely affected budget implementation in FY 2023/24 were the National Treasury’s non-disbursement of the June 2024 equitable share of revenue, the underperformance of own-source revenue collection, low expenditure on development programs, a high level of pending bills, high expenditure on personnel emoluments, a delay in submission of financial and non-financial reports to the CoB, the use of commercial bank accounts, and excessive expenditure on travel costs,” the Office of Controller of Budget indicated.
The expenditure report comes amid heightened public interest on government spending following anti-Finance Bill protests in June that saw President William Ruto decline to approve additional taxes.
“We must live within our means, respecting the very loud message that is coming from the people of Kenya. I will have conversations with stakeholders on this matter as we chart our way forward,” the President said.
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