Uproar as governors channel funds to lavish expenditure

Governors across the country are gearing up for frenzied spending going by the budgets they have presented to their respective county assemblies in what analysts say may have little impact or ultimately kill devolution.

Barely three months into office, a sizeable number of governors stand accused of nepotism, skewed hiring, lackadaisical leadership, crippling relations with the county assemblies in what is fast becoming the face of devolution as governors turn into a law unto themselves.

While some seem to get away with it, others have not been as fortunate as is the case in Nakuru County where county ward representatives have threatened to impeach Governor Kinuthia Mbugua for disregarding them on appointments. Mr Mbugua, for instance, has budgeted Sh40 million for the governor’s mansion.

Bungoma Governor Kenneth Lusaka allocated Sh53 million for entertainment which he now says was a typing error. He said counties were experiencing teething problems and urged the public to bear with them.

Busia Governor Sospeter Ojaamong wants a governor’s mansion complete with staff quarters, guest rooms and offices. The mansion, he said, should be a place where governors can even host visiting foreign presidents.

Trans Nzoia’s Patrick Khaemba has also had to face the wrath of his county representatives who blocked nine of his nominees to the county executive.

Bomet County Governor Isaac Ruto, who chairs the Council of Governors, and who is himself facing rebellion at home, says the leadership and political crises fomenting in the counties arise out of county representatives who do not understand their roles.

“They (county representatives) do not understand their roles. In fact they need sensitisation. Some of them are rejecting our nominees simply because the person (nominees) does not come from their villages,” Mr Ruto said.

Devolution expert and lawyer Lucy Kambuni has warned that lopsided priorities and lavish spending, if not checked, would kill the spirit of devolution.

“Much of the focus has been on the national government. While the focus on what the national government does is important, it is important not to lose focus on the counties,” said Ms Kambuni, a former member of the defunct task force on devolved government.

Ms Kambuni argued that while it is too early to judge whether the governors are up to the task, the events taking place at the county level raise several issues that should be nipped in the bud before they plunge the entire country into a quandary.

“Budgeting is happening when the structures of public participation are not in place. We have totally misplaced priorities. We did not devolve so as to fund recurrent budgets and civil society ought to provide a platform to check the counties,” said Ms Kambuni, warning the governors that the law on leadership and integrity will catch up with them.

“At this point, I can see no difference between how the MPs were managing the CDF and what the governors are doing,” she added.

Besides urging the civil societies to provide a platform for public participation, Ms Kambuni said the Controller of Budget Agnes Odhiambo should also play her role effectively. The Controller of Budget is an independent office whose mandate is to approve withdrawals from the Consolidated Fund.

“We have to get it right from the beginning. Otherwise we will have budgeted for so much that we cannot afford to pay. The county assemblies have their task cut out to look through the budgets brought by the governors. Even if the county assembly approves these bizarre allocations, the Controller of Budget must review the budgets before she authorises any withdrawals,” said Ms Kambuni.

Besides the budgeting process, counties are also fast becoming reward schemes where governors appoint their relatives to plum positions, regardless of their qualifications or integrity.

Kisii Governor James Ongwae, however, dismissed claims of favouritism in the appointments. He stated that counties are yet to get money from the national Treasury to do those things the governors are being accused of doing.

“These are just innuendoes. The counties have no money to carry out recruitment,” he said. 

Interviews for the positions in the Kisumu County public service board came to a halt after disgruntled applicants who claimed their names had been expunged from the shortlist stormed the venue, forcing the sessions to be cancelled.

But the governors may not have to blame anyone for their uncontrolled spending even as they complain of insufficient funds from the national Treasury.

The scale of the lavish spending came to light last week with the revelation that Bungoma County had allocated Sh53 million for entertainment, Sh30 million for travel expenses, Sh20 million for pornography eradication and Sh1 million for the speaker’s regalia.

Bungoma Governor Kenneth Lusaka told the Sunday Nation that it was a mistake which has since been corrected. The governor, however, conceded that counties were experiencing problems that were being blown out of proportion by political opponents.

“These are teething problems that are expected anywhere. But there needs to be sensitisation to enable the people understand what the counties are supposed to do,” said Mr Lusaka.

His argument is that the problems counties are facing with budgeting started with the Transitional Authority which did not have the capacity to educate the people.

“The appropriations have not started. The Sh53 million that has become a subject of intense debate was actually put there by mistake. The correct figure should be Sh5.3 million,” said Mr Lusaka.
Busia Governor Sospeter Ojaamong supported his Bungoma counterpart, saying the teething problems were not unique and were to be expected.

“We expected them but we confront them as they come. But, really, we are still relying on the national government,” said Mr Ojaamong.

Despite their protestations, the pattern that is emerging is that with power comes lavish spending at the expense of the people officials ought to represent and skewed recruitment of county executives and other public servants.

Governors have already allocated millions of shillings for constructing county state lodges. And Mr Ojaamong, who has been criticised for allocating over Sh70 million for a governor’s mansion, defended the allocation.

“They (governors’ mansions) are institutions in the county. The idea is to put up a house that will last several years complete with staff quarters, guest rooms and offices. We are going to use quality materials which must be tested,” he said.

Nakuru County has allocated Sh40 million for the construction of the governor’s mansion. And the governors who spoke to the Sunday Nation said the allocations were peanuts compared to the Sh4 billion the national Treasury allocated for the rehabilitation of State Lodges.

As they await their mansions, some governors have been spending up to Sh12,000 a night of taxpayers money residing in hotels which they say are closer to their offices.

Nairobi County has allocated Sh462 million for the renovation of the County Assembly chambers. Despite getting the lion’s share of the county allocations, Nairobi targets to raise about Sh9 billion annually and more than Sh40 billion by 2018, according to Governor Evans Kidero.

In Uasin Gishu County, Governor Jackson Mandago said that out of the Sh4.06 billion the county is set to receive from the Exchequer, 85 per cent will be used to cater for recurrent expenditure and only 15 per cent left for capital projects.

Mr Mandago said that the county has the capacity to generate approximately Sh1 billion of its own revenues.

“The initial budget was development-oriented since we had allocated a whopping 65 per cent of the total evaluations to cater for development projects. We are now forced to go and re-evaluate our plans due to limited funds,” he said.

He said that Uasin Gishu County inherited more than 1,500 staff from Eldoret Municipal Council, Wareng County Council and Burnt Forest Town Council arguing that the move would push the wage bill to approximately Sh1 billion.

In Kisumu County, the county assembly passed a recommendation of Sh72 million to purchase top-of-the-range vehicles for the county executives.

The public has also raised concern over the allocation of Sh97 million for tourism in Muhoroni Sub-County, Sh65 million for the construction of the governor’s official residence and another Sh10 million for renovation and upgrading of the former mayor’s residence to governor’s residence.

Kisumu County Public Participation Forum spokesperson Killen Omondi told the Sunday Nation that the public cannot accept to be tossed into a belief that the budget estimates were justified.

“The people of Kisumu were never involved during the budget making process; this was a few people’s work and we cannot accept that taxpayers monies are wasted on non-prioritised projects” said Mr Omondi.

Additional reporting by Philip Bwayo, Moses Odhiambo and Samwel Koech