Counties defied President William Ruto's call for austerity, spending billions on hospitality, travel and allowances amid economic hardships during the first four months of the 2024/25 financial year.
A report by Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o reveals that county executives and Members of County Assemblies (MCAs) collectively spent Sh1.54 billion on domestic and foreign travel from July to September this year.
The expenditures include Sh290.23 million on sitting allowances for MCAs and Sh1.254 billion on travel by county executive officials.
The amount is an increase from Sh863 million that was collectively spent by county executives and county assemblies in a similar period in the 2023/2024 financial year.
During the first quarter of the 2023/2024 financial year, MCAs alone pocketed Sh312 million in sitting allowances.
These revelations come as Kenya’s 47 devolved units struggle with mounting debts to suppliers and contractors, raising concerns over fiscal discipline.
President Ruto had earlier directed all government units, including counties, to adopt strict budget cuts to address economic pressures. However, the latest data shows these directives were largely ignored.
“There is a lot of wastage in counties through bloated wage bills, foreign and domestic travel, among other illegal expenditures. Some counties use up to 75 percent of their funds to pay salaries, leaving only 25 percent for development,” said Ms Nyakang’o in her report.
Only the county assemblies of Garissa, Nyamira, and Trans Nzoia did not report any expenditure on MCAs’ sitting allowances during the period under review.
In Bomet County, officials and MCAs spent Sh18.51 million on travel. Notably, one county official spent Sh992,663 on a 10-day trip to the United Kingdom in September 2024 for a pyrethrum revival meeting.
"In total, the county government and county assembly used Sh112.29 million in both domestic and foreign travel,” says the report.
Between August 22 and 28, 14 county assembly officials attended a governance workshop in Dubai spending Sh5,992,308.
Between October 13 and 21, the county government also sent six of its officials to attend a rainwater harvesting workshop in China, where they blew Sh3 million.
The report further reveals that between August 22 and 28, three county officials attended an HIV and Aids conference in Ontario Canada, where they spent Sh1.5 million.
"Between September 22 and 30, one county official also attended the UN General Assembly in New York, USA and spent Sh685,100. Further on October 4 and 8 another county official travelled to Cairo, Egypt to attend the 12 World Urban Forum. The official spent Sh634,983 on the trip to Egypt,” says Ms Nyakang'o in the report.
In Kisumu County, officials spent Sh16.12 million on international events, including trips to the US, Uganda, Singapore, Mauritania and Colombia between May 31 and October 29, 2024. Meanwhile, the county assembly used Sh64.5 million on domestic travel and leisure.
Baringo County's assembly spent Sh12.78 million on sitting allowances for its 46 MCAs, averaging Sh92,579 per month, while the executive spent Sh5.28 million on domestic travel.
Bungoma County reported a combined Sh39.51 million in travel costs, with MCAs receiving Sh29.91 million in allowances while the executive spent Sh9.6 million.
The report revealed that between July 23 and 28, one county assembly official spent Sh313,705 while attending the African Health Summit in Ghana.
Between September 25 and 27 five MCAs splashed 492,850 attending the East African Law Society Construction Law Conference in Rwanda.
Other counties that spent millions on allowances and either domestic or foreign travel include; Elgeyo Marakwet (Sh19.08 million), Embu (Sh13.08 million), Garissa (Sh19.3 million), Homa Bay (Sh64.08 million), Kajiado (Sh49.8 million), Kakamega (Sh31 Million), Kiambu (Sh47 million), Kilifi (Sh22.9 million), Kisii (Sh 45 million) among others.
Makueni County led in allowances, with MCAs earning Sh108,920 monthly, followed by Kisumu County at Sh84,053. Nairobi County paid the lowest at Sh4,382, trailed by Mandera County at Sh9,092.
President Ruto emphasised the importance of fiscal discipline to ensure the country “lives within its means.”
Between July and October 2024, counties collectively incurred penalties of millions of shillings from bounced cheques and delays in settling debts.
Data from both the Auditor General and the Controller of Budget shows development in most of the 47 county governments has been stifled due to wasteful expenditures including domestic and foreign travel and bloated wage bills gobbling more than half of their counties' budgets.
An analysis of 2024/2025 budgets approved by various county assemblies shows salaries and allowances will gobble the lion's share of the devolved units' cash.
Counties have also been grappling with the headache of settling pending bills dating back to the defunct local authorities which have strained development activities.
Both the Controller of Budget and the Auditor General have always wanted counties to increase their spending on development and reduce spending on personal emoluments and travel expenditures, improve on their own source revenue collection, eliminate manual payroll operations and submit their financial reports on time.
