Nine counties spend more than 20pc on development
Council of Governors Chairperson Ann Waiguru (right), Uasin Gishu County Governor Jonathan Bii second (right), and other leaders during the Biennial Devolution Conference at Eldoret Sports Club in Uasin Gishu County on August 17, 2023.
What you need to know:
- Narok led with 41 per cent after spending Sh2.4 billion on development programmes.
- In Garissa, the county government spent Sh804.73 million on development.
Nine counties spent more than 20 per cent of their total budgets on development activities in the first six months of the current financial year, a new report shows.
The report by the Controller of Budget covering the period between July and December 2023 shows that the 47 counties spent just Sh24.81 billion on development.
However, Narok, Kwale, Marsabit, Garissa, Laikipia, Bomet, Turkana, Uasin Gishu and Nakuru counties managed to spend more than the average of 14.7 per cent on development as a percentage of the total expenditure.
“The development expenditure during the period under review amounted to Sh24.81 billion translating to an absorption rate of 12.2 per cent of the annual development budget of Sh203.11 billion, which is an improvement from an absorption rate of 6.9 per cent realised in a similar period in the previous fiscal year when the total development expenditure was Sh11.66 billion,” reads the report by Dr Margaret Nyakang’o.
Narok led with 41 per cent after spending Sh2.4 billion on development programmes out of the Sh5.85 billion overall expenditure in the reporting period. In a similar period in the previous financial year, the county spent Sh430 million.
Kwale County government spent Sh1.1 billion on development activities out of the total Sh3.78 billion.
The expenditure by the Governor Fatuma Achani-led administration represented an increase compared to a similar period last fiscal year where only Sh72.64 million was spent.
Marsabit County spent Sh937 million on development programmes. The administration’s Sh9.42 billion annual budget had Sh4.32 billion allocated for development activities.
During a similar period in the previous fiscal year, the administration did not spend anything on development.
In Garissa, the county government spent Sh804.73 million on development, compared to Sh111.68 million in a similar period in the last financial year.
It spent a total of Sh3.4 billion on development and recurrent programmes in the reporting period.
Laikipia spent a total of Sh2.35 billion in the reporting period, with Sh535.34 million spent on development programmes.
Bomet County spent Sh647.99 million on development programmes, up from Sh191 million. During the reporting period, the county spent a total of Sh3 billion.
Governor Jeremiah Lomorukai’s Turkana County spent Sh1.28 billion on development, out of an overall Sh6.05 billion expenditure in the period.
Governor Jonathan Bii’s Uasin Gishu administration came in eighth, spending Sh860.71 million on development programmes. It spent a total of Sh4.08 billion in the period.
Rounding up the list is Nakuru County, which spent Sh1.46 billion on development programmes, representing an increase of 183.5 per cent compared to a similar period in the last fiscal year.
The county government spent a total of Sh7.05 billion in the reporting period.
