The lack of consensus between the Commission for Revenue Allocation (CRA) and the Council of Governors (CoG) over a revenue sharing formulae is expected to continue raging on even as the country heads to the election.
It has now emerged that more than half of the counties in the country have not been be able to meet the recommended development spend threshold, which requires them to use at least 30 per cent of the moneys allocated to them for development projects.
The country’s capital Nairobi and Narok lead this list as the counties that spend the least amount of money in development. This has led to dilapidated infrastructure and stalled projects. Nairobi and Narok have averagely spent 18.7 per cent and 13.1 per cent of their total budget in development projects respectively.
According to the National Treasury, Nairobi County further failed to allocate the required 30 per cent of its budget to development in the 2020/21 fiscal year despite being the most populous county in the country.
“All the County Governments except Nairobi City County complied with this legal requirement and allocated at least thirty per cent of their approved budget to development in FY 2020/21,” the National Treasury notes in the budget policy statement.
The budget policy statement further shows that more than half of the counties did not spend the required 30 per cent on development, with only 21 counties meeting this expenditure threshold.
“In terms of actual development expenditure for the FY 2020/21, only 21 County Governments were able to utilize at least thirty 30 per cent of their total expenditure on development. The County Government of Marsabit spent 47.7 per cent of its expenditure on development followed by Mombasa and Mandera counties at 41.2 per cent and 38 per cent respectively.”
The budget policy statement further shows that counties that spent the least amount of money on development ranged from 29.9 per cent of their total expenditure down to 13.1 per cent.
“Narok County Government utilized only 13.1 per cent on development while Nairobi City and Baringo counties spent 18.7 per cent and 19.3 per cent on development respectively,” indicated the policy statement.
Other counties lagging behind in development expenditure include Migori, Bungoma, Homa Bay, Busia Nyeri, Nandi, Tana River, Lamu, Kisii, Bomet, Samburu, Meru, Kirinyaga, and Tharaka Nithi among others.
The revelations come as counties continue to push for an allocation of Ksh381 billion in the next fiscal year contrary to the Controller of Budget proposal to have them receive Ksh380 billion.
Counties have also been on the spot over delayed payment of their suppliers, with the National Treasury being forced to intervene to fast track the clearance of pending bills, even threatening to withhold funds from the counties.
Concerns are rife over counties recurrent expenditure with experts warning that it may not be sustainable in the future.
