This archive report was first published on 30 June 2020.
Kenyan counties have missed a crucial opportunity to boost local incomes after sharply scaling down spending on development projects in the financial year that ended on June 30, 2020.
According to a report by the Controller of Budget (CoB), the 47 county governments had spent only Sh49.78 billion (39.9%) of the Sh198.85 billion allocated as development expenditure for the full year by the end of March.
With the outbreak of Covid-19 slowing government activities across the country, not much expenditure is expected in the last quarter of the financial year.
By comparison, however, Sh191.82 billion (63.9%) of the Sh300 billion allocated for 2019/20 recurrent expenditure was used up.
Unlike recurrent expenditure, which mainly covers administrative costs, development projects like roads, fresh produce markets, bridges, and schools enable county residents to improve their earnings and livelihood.
Overall, the counties spent Sh241.6 billion in the first nine months of the fiscal year, representing an absorption rate of 49.3% of the total annual county government's budgets.
Public Finance Management (PFM) Act, 2012, provides that over the medium term, a minimum of 30% of the County Governments budget shall be spent on development expenditure.
Controller of Budget Dr. Margaret Nyakang'o recommended that counties should prioritize the implementation of development projects to improve their citizens' standards of living.
