MCAs’ on spot as Marsabit county allocates Sh78m for tea, flowers

Activists from the Centre for Multiparty Democracy and Coalition for Constitution Implementation address the Press at Nyayo Gardens in Nakuru during their 'Operation Ondoa Panya' protest against MCAs' extravagance. [Photo: Joseph Kipsang/Standard]

Kenya: The scale of extravagance exhibited by Members of County Assemblies (MCAs) is revealed in a new report by Controller of Budget Agnes Odhiambo.

This comes as health workers are on strike in parts of the country to protest against non-payment of their salaries and allowances, and many county workers are yet to be paid for July.

Shockingly, only six counties, Bomet, Kakamega, Nandi, Narok, Wajir and Garissa, are within the recommended budget ceiling for county assemblies. The six allocated the set amounts for travelling and have been allowed to access their money.

Among the big spending county assemblies are Baringo, with Sh522 million instead of the recommended Sh363 million. The county allocated Sh84 million for travel and Sh74 million for training, all of which are above the ceiling.

Marsabit allocated Sh78 million to cater for office tea and flowers among other hospitality needs.

Other county assemblies that have set aside huge budgets for foreign and domestic travel include Busia (Sh150 million), Embu (Sh37 million), Homa Bay (Sh77 million), Isiolo (Sh68 million), Kajiado (Sh154 million), Kericho (Sh50 million), Kilifi (Sh106 million), Kwale (Sh78 million), Kirinyaga (Sh70 million) and Kisii (Sh280 million).

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Others are Laikipia (Sh62 million), Makueni (Sh102 million), Marsabit (Sh104 million), Nakuru (Sh120 millio), Nyamira (Sh115 million), Nyeri (Sh140 milion), Tana River (Sh113 milion), Taita Taveta (Sh73 milion), Turkana (Sh197 million), and Vihiga (Sh124 million) that could clearly indicate how much they have allocated to travelling alone.

According to the report seen by The Standard, Mrs Odhiambo has rejected over 30 per cent of the county assemblies' budgets because they diverted money meant for development to fund their allowances and foreign travel.

The counties set aside not less than Sh2.5 billion to pay travel expenses alone for MCAs, out of the Sh16 billion meant to cater for salaries, allowances and staff.

Ochiambo is standing firm that the budgets for county assemblies must be revised before they can be allocated funds for the 2014/2015 financial year.

In a circular to all Governors, the head of the county assemblies Speakers Forum, Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) and Transition Authority, Mrs Odhiambo said; "Budgets must be based on the Programme Based Budgeting Framework. The public must have participated in the budget making process, while allocations to foreign and domestic travel, hospitality, training and seminars should be guided by the Constitution Article 201 (d) on prudence."

She said county assemblies budgets should be based on CRA recommendations and ceilings.

"County Assemblies and County Executives, like all other public offices are subject to oversight by relevant public institutions such as CRA, and Controller of Budget. No public institution is given a blanket cheque to spend public money without checks and balances," said Odhiambo.

No salaries will be paid to county assemblies' newly recruited staff and health workers while MCAs will not get their allowances. The ceilings are based on a circular by CRA, which provides for a breakdown of the Sh238 billion allocation of shareable revenues to county governments.

In the circular dated June 24, 2014, CRA Chairman Micah Cheserem allocated Sh207 to development and only Sh30 billion to new county structures out of the bulk of the Sh238 billion.

"Development funds are meant to cater for health services, agriculture, roads, water and other projects, while money for the new county structures is meant to pay county staff, MCAs' salaries and allowances , Speakers' pay, duty and mileage allowances, county executive staff, county secretaries' and governors' salaries, pension and gratuity funds for staff," said Cheserem.

CRA says the amount county assemblies have allocated for domestic travel, training, foreign travel, accomodation and hospitality services is more than the recommended figure despite warnings by Mrs Odhiambo and Cheserem who sounded an alarm over foreign trips by MCAs in the past four months of this year.

Some county assemblies are yet to submit their budgets.

"Reports reaching us is that some county assemblies and county executives have been making numerous overseas visits to such places as Malasyia, Singapore, South Africa, Israel, Rwanda, USA in large delegations with the aim of exhausting the 2013/14 budgeta allocations," said Cheserem.

"Any expenditures by the new structures above their total ceiling of Sh16 bilion for county assemblies (and Sh13 billion for county executives) of the total Sh30 billion will eat into the money allocated for service delivery in the counties," he warned.