The Controller of Budget (CoB) Margaret Nyakang'o has advised the National Treasury not to release funds to eighteen counties that spent more than 35 per cent of the monies allocated to them on salaries and other recurrent expenditure.
CoB issued a statement indicating that it was in talks on how the freeze would be done - touching on funds for the 2021-2022 financial year.
The budget review report for the first nine months of the 2020-21 fiscal year showed that the total expenditure of the affected devolved units on staff emoluments was 52.9 per cent of their total expenditure.
“We have made recommendations on what can be done to manage high wage bills in counties so that they are within the law and I would recommend everybody to read the report of the Controller of Budget every quarter to get all the details on what is happening in your county,” Nyakong’o noted.
The affected include Baringo, Bungoma, Elgeyo Marakwet, Embu, Garissa, Homa Bay, Kiambu, Kirinyaga, Kisii, Kitui and Machakos.
Others were Meru, Murang’a, Nandi, Taita Taveta, Tharaka Nithi, Vihiga and West Pokot counties.
CoB regulations state that county governments must not spend more than 35 per cent of allocated money on wages.
Among the recommendations made is that county governments should develop and implement alternative measures to improve the generation of income from their own sources for the fully-funded budget.
The controller also recommended that counties should prioritize implementation of development projects to improve the standard of living for its citizens and ensure spending on development activities complies with Section 107(2) (b) of the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act, 2012.
Further, they recommended that county governments should ensure all revenue receipts are banked intact into the County Revenue Fund (CRF) account and develop strategies to ensure all unspent cash balance is paid back into the CRF account in line with the law.
County Treasuries have also been advised to review expenditure on travel and subsistence allowances to ensure it is credible and institute control measures to curtail this expenditure and avoid wasteful spending.
Finally, it is recommended that the National Treasury should disburse funds to counties on a timely basis to ensure that budget implementation is not adversely affected.
