Controller of Budget says counties registered a drop in expenditure on development projects by about Sh12.8 billion

The controller of Budget (COB) Agnes Odhiambo

About 37 county governments did not undertake any development activity during the three months that preceded the General Election last year.

This has been attributed to the delay in disbursement of funds from the exchequer to the counties.

The matter among other challenges facing devolution, is likely to dominate discussions at the devolution conference that kicks off in Kakamega next week.

Controller of Budget (COB) Agnes Odhiambo noted that counties registered a drop in expenditure on development projects by about Sh12.8 billion with only 10 counties implementing projects.

The 10 undertook projects in infrastructure with a number investing heavily in the health sector during the period under review. The COB blamed the low figures on failure by the Treasury to release funds to counties.

The County Governments Budget Implementation review report indicated that Turkana County spent the highest amount at Sh373 million despite registering a decline in revenue by about Sh16 million.

Ms Odhiambo noted that the county spent a huge bulk of the budget to improve water provision.

Other top performers were Murang’a and Kiambu counties which spent about Sh179.9 million and Sh145.62 million respectively to complete development projects.

During the period under review, development activities stalled as political heat and change of guard in most counties took effect. 

Nairobi County, which spent about Sh4.56 million on wages only used about Sh24.5 million on development with the amount used in refurbishing the county assembly and purchasing firefighting equipment.

In Coast, only Mombasa and Kilifi counties implemented development projects with Mombasa which was one of the top performers in generating revenue at Sh307 million spending about Sh29.1 million on development.

The figure however, represented a dismal 0.6 per cent of its Sh3.9 billion annual development budget with the COB indicating that it was largely used to offset tax.

Counties in Rift Valley, Nyanza and Western did not undertake any development projects with the COB blaming this on delay by the Treasury to disburse funds.

Majority of the counties are still struggling to meet their financial obligations.