'MCAs likely to go without sitting allowances'

Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto (left) and his Kericho counterpart Prof Paul Chepkwony, Baringo Senator Gideon Moi and Narok Senator Stephen Ole Ntutu after a meeting they held at Mara Safari Club hotel in Maasai Mara in Narok [Photo by Gilbert Kimutai/Standard]

Narok,Kenya: Reports that the county assembly could not hold sittings due to shortage of funds to pay sitting allowances to the 35 MCAs came as a shocker as the 2014-15 financial year entered its second half.

Speaker Geoffrey Korir (pictured on mic) revealed that the assembly had exhausted the allocated Sh265 million after its initial budget was rejected due to budget caps introduced by the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA).

A number of other county assemblies have also reportedly faced a cash crunch with CRA shouldering the blame for budget ceilings introduced last year.

However, a report by the Controller of Budget Agnes Odhiambo on the budget implementation review for the first half of 2014-15 has painted a different picture on expenditure by the county assemblies.

According to the report, Bomet Assembly, which was the first to raise the red flag over its impending shutdown spent Sh142.2 million of the allocated Sh265 million in the first six weeks.

The assembly within the same period spent Sh23.25 million for sitting allowances of the budgeted Sh40.32 million representing 57.7 per cent.

The assembly, however, over spent its allocation for domestic and foreign travel by Sh1 million after it used Sh27.2 million yet it had an annual budget of Sh26.2 million.

A further analysis of the assembly expenditure showed that each of the 35 MCAs received an average monthly sitting allowance of Sh110,700 a figure which is below the recommend average allowance of Sh124,000 by the Salaries and remuneration Commission.

During the first half of 2014-15, county assemblies used Sh1.44 billion to pay sitting allowances for MCAs against an annual allocation of Sh3.79 billion, an absorption rate of 38 per cent.

In the 2013-14 financial year, counties spent Sh1.1 billion in the first half of the financial year out of the Sh2.9 billion set aside for allowance.