Trips over treatment: How Siaya leaders burned Sh200m while hospitals went underfunded

Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang'o before the National Assembly's Committee on Public Debt & Privatisation. [File, Standard] Siaya County splashed nearly Sh200 million on travels in 2024/2025, even as hospitals went underfunded, billions in pending bills piled up, and stalled projects gathered dust, a report by the Controller of Budget reveals. According to the report on the budget implementation, domestic travel alone consumed Sh196.98 million, with the County Assembly burning through Sh143.91 million and the Executive spending Sh53.06 million. An additional Sh4.8 million went to foreign trips, with the Assembly again leading at Sh3.19 million compared to Sh1.64 million by the Executive. While leaders crisscrossed the country and globe, the County Executive spent Sh2.37 billion on salaries, Sh1.85 billion on operations, and Sh2.6 billion on development, while the County Assembly allocated Sh338 million to pay staff, Sh436 million on operations, and Sh153 million on development. The Assembly also directed Sh29.75 million to sitting allowances for its 42 MCAs, nearly exhausting its budget of Sh30.24 million. Each MCA pocketed an average of Sh59,018 monthly for sittings across 20 House committees. The County reported pending bills of Sh1.12 billion as of June 30, 2024, all under the Executive, comprising Sh488 million in recurrent costs and Sh635 million in development arrears. Despite settling Sh577.7 million, pending obligations ballooned further, hitting Sh1.3 billion by June 2025. At the same time, hospitals were left in limbo, owed Sh376.96 million in unpaid claims by the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) and the defunct NHIF. According to the report that paints a picture of a county struggling to live within its budget, nine projects worth Sh24.28 million stalled, despite Sh3.07 million already disbursed. Governor Orengo, however, dismissed the Controller of Budget (CoB) report, ranking the county among the lowest performers in revenue collection for the last financial year. The CoB report indicates that Siaya collected Sh436.68 million in own-source revenue in the 2024-2025 financial year. But Orengo termed the figure as inaccurate, saying it grossly understated the county's actual performance. "For the record, as of June 30, 2025, Siaya collected Sh946.9 million against an annual revenue target of Sh1.04 billion," said Orengo. He added that the amount represents a 90.6 per cent performance, not 47 per cent as reported by the budget watchdog. Breaking down the collections, the governor said Sh206.9 million came from non-exchange transactions, while Sh739.9 million was realised from exchange transactions. Orengo maintained that his administration was committed to strengthening revenue mobilisation, accountability, and transparency in financial management. "We therefore urge the Office of the Controller of Budget to correct the record and ensure that future reports are an accurate and fair reflection of our financial performance," he stated. Meanwhile, unspent funds from the previous financial year were not returned to the County Revenue Fund, leading to departments overshooting their approved allocations. The report also flagged dangerous payroll practices, with Sh353 million in salaries processed outside the official HRIS system, covering casuals and staff not onboarded into government records. The Controller of Budget issued a raft of recommendations, urging the County Treasury to submit financial reports on time, enhance revenue collection, refund unspent balances, and fast-track HRIS payroll integration. The report further called for strict adherence to the Pending Bills Action Plan, settlement of hospital claims with the Social Health Authority, and urgent completion of stalled but feasible projects. Without reforms, the CoB warned that ballooning travel costs, a bloated payroll, and persistent revenue shortfalls risk starving development priorities, leaving Siaya's residents to bear the brunt of poor governance.

Trips over treatment: How Siaya leaders burned Sh200m while hospitals went underfunded

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