Revenue commission unveils county budget monitoring system

NAIROBI: The Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) has launched a new tool to monitor public perception of the implementation of county budgets and the quality of service delivery. The new tool now provides the first rating tool on the performance of all the county governments.

Speaking during the launch of the new tool, CRA Chief Executive Officer George Ooko said the tool will help  the citizens monitor service delivery and the county governments to make an assessment of where service delivery is weak.

“This tool provides the first rating platform on service delivery versus the amount of money allocated to the specific sectors. Such tools are important to ensure revenue allocated to the counties is utilised in the best interests of the citizens and counties are able to gauge the impact of their allocations,” he said.

National Taxpayers

The tool has been jointly developed by the National Taxpayers Association (NTA), Institute of Economic Affairs and other partners.

The tool has already been tested in Nyeri County and found to be effective.

“The Nyeri County government is very keen to see the results of the pilot assessment. They want to work with the findings to improve areas where the public felt service delivery was not good,” said NTA National Coordinator Martin Napisa.

“This tool measures what is allocated to each sector and the public perception of the service delivery to that sector. It helps the citizens to know if they are getting value for their money and the county governments to know if the allocation to that sector is adequate or is being wasted,” Napisa added.

The rating tool was launched alongside the Citizens Alternative Budget developed by the Institute of Economic Affairs. The tools will be used to monitor service delivery, infrastructure development and effective budget implementation in order to promote budget transparency and accountability.

The County Budget Monitoring tool focuses on six devolved areas such as budget transparency in terms of citizen participation, revenue streams and trade regulation. Other areas include health, focusing on ambulances and maternal care, education focusing on Early Childhood Development and polytechnics, agriculture and transport.

“Our aim is to provide everyone interested in monitoring service delivery, transparency and accountability at the county level an opportunity to do so,” said Mr Napisa.

The tool was developed through an elaborate process involving the private sector, civil society, government, religious and other oversight authorities.