Governors are staring at a cut in their monthly package after the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) directed that all county governments build residential houses for top officials, as reported by Business Daily on Saturday, January 25.
SRC Chairperson Lyn Mengich directed that all the 47 counties had until the end of the 2021/2022 fiscal year to complete the houses for governors, deputy governors, and county assembly speakers.
According to the publication, governors, along with the top county officials, each pocket around Ksh 200,000 monthly in house allowances.
"Our expectation is that all the counties must adhere to the circular. In the absence of any contrary communication, we assume they are on the course unless they have issues that we are unaware of," Mengich stated.
This comes after an initial directive that would have seen counties build houses for top officials by June 30, 2019, by which only four counties complied, forcing he commission to move the deadline to June 2022.
Only Homa Bay and Kajiado counties managed to construct residences for their governors and deputies before the June 30, 2019 deadline elapsed.
Kilifi had completed the construction of only the governor's residence while Isiolo completed that of the deputy governor.
However, the publication reported that none of the counties had embarked on the construction of residences for the county assembly speakers.
These projects are however likely to strain the counties as they battle pending bills, priorities and various other demands from members of the public.
Budgets for the construction of houses for deputy governors and county speakers were capped at Ksh40 million and Ksh35 million respectively.
However, a number of counties were flagged for overestimating the budget provisions for the residences.
According to the publication, Vihiga County channelled Ksh103 million towards the governor's residence whereas Kilifi County utilised Ksh140 million on the governor's house against the Ksh80 million limit.
On March 29, 2019, Vihiga Governor Wilber Ottichilo commissioned the construction of the governor's house that cost an estimated Ksh80 million and Ksh23.9 million for the 2-acre piece of land it sits on.
He also commissioned the construction of the deputy governor's residence at an estimated Ksh55 million, in a bid to comply to the SRC's directive.
"From July 1, the governors, their deputies and speakers will not have house allowances,” Ottichilo stated then.
The rest of the governors are expected to follow suit within the set peiod of time to aid the SRC in cutting back on the millions dished out in house allowances.
