Audit reveals zero expenditure on development by five counties

Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru flags off road equipment at the Mwea irrigation Scheme. [File, Standard]

Five counties spent zero shillings on development activities, a report by the Controller of Budget has revealed.

Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang'o in the County Governments Budget Implementation Report for the First Half 2022/23, said Elgeyo Marakwet, Marsabit, Migori, Tana River and Wajir reported no expenditure on development.

The audit revealed development expenditure in counties declined, indicating that it amounted to Sh11.66 billion, representing an absorption rate of 6.9 per cent and a decline from 13.5 per cent attained in a similar period of Financial Year 2021/22.

"It was noted that five counties did not report any expenditure on development activities, namely; Elgeyo Marakwet, Marsabit, Migori, Tana River and Wajir," reads the February audit in part.

Mandera, Kajiado and Nyeri counties, however, recorded the highest proportion of development expenditure to the approved annual development budget.

The counties spent an aggregate of Sh133.55 billion or 92 per cent of the total expenditure on recurrent activities. This expenditure represented 40.7 per cent of the annual county government's budget for recurrent activities and was a decline from 41.1 per cent recorded in a similar period of the FY 2021/22 when expenditure stood at Sh133.59 billion.

The county governments reported outstanding pending bills of Sh153.02 billion as at the end of FY 2021/22, comprising Sh151.68 billion by the county Executive and Sh1.34 billion by county assemblies.

The new administration of county governments after the August 2022 General Elections formed internal committees to verify the pending bills to begin settling eligible bills.

"The quarterly financial statements and reports submitted by counties for the period ending 31st December 2022 place the cumulative outstanding pending bills at Sh159.94 billion, comprising Sh158.31 billion by the County Executives and Sh1.63 billion by County Assemblies," read the report.

Nairobi City county was reported to account for 62.7 per cent of the total pending bills at Sh100.36 billion. Other counties with a high level of pending bills are Wajir at Sh5.50 billion, Kiambu at Sh4.98 billion, Mombasa at Sh4.97 billion, and Murang'a at Sh3.11 billion.

The Controller of Budget noted that most county governments still needed to finalise verifying pending bills, and to make the shift from using manual payroll systems.

The report further identified under-performance in counties' own-source revenue collection, which was Sh13.11 billion against the annual target of Sh58.34 billion.

The report listed Nyamira, Nakuru, Kajiado, Murang'a, Kilifi, Kisii, and Nairobi as having recorded the lowest performance against their targets. "The underperformance of own-source revenue collection implies that the counties could not implement some planned activities due to budget deficits," read the report.