Crisis as MCAs take off before passing budget

A crisis is looming after MCAs took a two-week recess before approving the 2016-17 budget.

With the June 30 deadline for passage of the Appropriation Bill long gone, MCAs moved an adjournment motion on Wednesday afternoon without any indications when the Sh12.8 billion budget would be endorsed.

Last week, Budget and Appropriation Committee Chairman Moses Ndungu told the House that his team was not ready to table the Bill because they had issues with the estimates presented by county treasury.

The lawmakers had protested the executive’s failure to state how money to employ nurses, nursery school teachers, village administrators and polytechnic tutors would be raised.

Speaking to The Standard on phone yesterday, Mr Ndungu said MCAs want county treasury to explain how it would raise funds.

“In the past financial year, members agreed that Sh5 million be deducted from each of the 55 ward funds to cater for the recruitment of 28 nurses, 275 nursery teachers, village administrators and other core staff,” he said.

Unfortunately that money was used to pay 180 workers who were recruited irregularly and their names sneaked into the payroll, Ndungu added.

The planned employment of the new staff, some of whom have been interviewed by the County Public Service Board, came at a time the assembly had endorsed the sacking of 180 employees who were hired irregularly.

The county has been grappling with a huge wage bill that consumes slightly over 40 per cent of its annual budget.

County treasury estimated that the wage bill would rise from Sh4.9 billion to Sh 5.2 billion in this financial year. The assembly has frozen any recruitment of new staff following the irregular recruitment of 180 workers.

In the budget estimates, Sh 8.7 billion was earmarked for recurrent expenditure and Sh4 billion for development projects.

Nominated MCA Penniah Sortum said illegal recruitment of staff had hampered the recruitment of a crucial group of employees.

“The county is in dire need of nurses, doctors and nursery school teachers. It is the feeling among members that the issue be addressed urgently,” Mrs Sortum said.

With the impasse over the budget, Governor Kinuthia Mbugua is expected to turn to section section 134 of Public Finance Management Act.

The law allows him to access at most 50 per cent of the estimates of expenditure submitted to the county assembly if MCAs fail to pass the county appropriation bill before the end of the set deadline.

In this financial year, Nakuru will receive Sh8.7 billion from the national Treasury, while Sh2.3 billion will be raised from local revenue sources. Some Sh356 million will come from conditional grant for level five hospitals. The county will further receive Sh95 million for leasing of medical equipment, Sh215 million for free maternity, Sh134 million from road maintenance fuel levy fund, Sh25 million from Danida and Sh605 million from facility improvement fund.

The health department is set to gobble up Sh3.8 billion in recurrent expenditure and Sh666 million in development expenditure. The allocation comprises 35.1 per cent of the entire budget.

The department of roads and public works has been allocated Sh1.2 billion of Sh936 million is for development expenditure and Sh310 million on recurrent expenditure.

The health department will get Sh666 million for development while the treasury and the education will receive Sh502 million and Sh467 million for the same purpose.