Commission on Revenue Allocation censured over county budget ceilings

The Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) is on the spot over its proposed Sh46 billion ceiling on recurrent expenditure for county governments in the next financial year.

Yesterday, members of the Senate committee on Finance expressed disappointment that the commission did not consult the parties involved before fixing the budget limit.

Committee Chairman Billow Kerrow (Mandera) also took issue with the delay in submitting concerns by the Members of the County Assemblies (MCAs) and only doing so towards the end of the process.

"I am disappointed with CRA for not engaging the assemblies. Equally, the county legislatures are also at fault for taking too long to lodge complaints. CRA has increased the ceilings from Sh17 billions for the assemblies last year to Sh25 billion, which translates to 10 per cent of the shareable revenue," explained Senator Kerrow.

He added: "Assemblies should table justifiable figures. Senate despite being determined to ensure the assemblies get enough funds, we will not give arbitrary figure based on generality but structured demands."

He said although Senate was committed to seeing counties get enough resources to carry out their functions, it will not hesitate to point out wrongs if the funds are misused.

MinorityLeader Moses Wetangula (Bungoma), senators Boni Khalwale (Kakamega), Peter Mositet (Kajiado), Wilfred Machage (Migori), Mutahi Kagwe (Nyeri), Mutula Kilonzo Junior (Makueni) and Catherine Mukiite (Nominated) weighed in on CRA over its proposal that every ward should have three staff.

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"If a county with 30 wards is allowed 88 staff, what is the rationale? This is absurd. A county like Bungoma has 45 wards with eight staff yet it is doing its functions as required," said Wetangula.

MCAs have petitioned Senate over the proposed budget ceilings on recurrent expenditures for county assemblies.

Through the County Assemblies Forum (CAF), the county lawmakers argued that the amount specified by CRA was not adequate the assemblies to carry out their legislative duties.

The forum officials led by speakers Patrick Mariru (Laikipia), Gordon Ogola (Migori) and Jimmy Kaindi (Kilifi) and clerks lamented that CRA did not involve them in coming up with the ceilings.

"We do not know the criteria used by CRA in arriving at these figures. We are not satisfied with the figures allocated to counties and also since we get our vote from the executive, it is not advisable to impose the limits on them," said Ogola.

He continued: "We were not privy to the document that specifies the budget ceilings. We need more time to interrogate this document and present our justified proposals to the Senate.

Mariru stressed the assemblies needed to be adequately resourced to carry out their work.

"We need additional funds that are realistic and purposeful. CRA however did not engage us in coming up with this document. By Monday next week, we will furnish the Senate committee with a detailed recommendation to effectively finance our functions, capturing clear imperial and structured specific concerns," Maruri said.