Five counties didn't spend any money on projects, says report

Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja failed to spend a coin on development projects in the first quarter of 2023/2024 despite allocating Sh14 billion. [File, Standard]

Five counties did not spend a penny on development projects in the first quarter of this financial year, according to the Controller of Budget.

A report by Dr Margaret Nyakang’o also names Narok and Bomet as some of the counties that recorded good implementation of the development budget.

Nairobi, Homa Bay, Embu, Machakos, Turkana and Wajir counties did not report any expenditure on development in July, August and September.

In Nairobi, Governor Johnson  Sakaja failed to spend a coin on development projects in the first quarter of 2023/2024 despite allocating Sh14 billion.

But the report says says the county spent Sh167 million on domestic travels alone. The Controller of Budget says city MCAs spent Sh94.92 million while the Executive used Sh78.88 million.

Unaccounted foreign travels

On foreign travels, the Sakaja administration spent Sh3.05 million while the Ward Rep used Sh8.94 million. But Nyakang’o noted that the details of expenditures on foreign travel were not provided by the county government. 

Moreover, at the end of the first quarter, there was no approved exchequer request for foreign travel for both the assembly and the Executive.

The Nairobi County Assembly spent Sh139.82 million on employee compensation and Sh294.98 million on operations and maintenance.

The Council of Governors defended low-performing counties, saying expecting uniform implementation of the projects is not only impractical but also irregular.

CoG Chairperson Anne Waiguru said the complexity of the expenditure process slows down uptake of development budget.

“The county governments recognise the importance of ensuring that the procurement procedures are meticulous, transparent and adhere to the law in the spirit of the accountability to the people we serve,” she said.

In the report, Narok Governor Patrick ole Ntutu was listed as the top county boss who spent Sh1.3 billion on development projects.

Bomet under the leadership of Governor Hillary Barchok was listed as second with 17 per cent of the allocation having been spent.

Poor revenue collection

It also emerged that most of the counties failed to meet their targets on own source collections. This was attributed to weak revenue collection systems and poor procedures used by county officials to channel daily collections.

In Nairobi, for instance, there have been concerns over the system used to collect revenue since 2021.

The county assembly has formed a special committee to investigate falling revenue collection, which has been attributed to an unreliable system.