This archive report was first published on 2 July 2020.
Published on July 2, 2020, Controller of Budget Dr. Margaret Nyakang'o revealed that counties are struggling to absorb money allocated for development during her appearance before the National Assembly Finance Committee on the Budget Policy Statement at Continental House in Nairobi.
According to the County Governments Budget Implementation Review Report, devolved units spent Sh49.8 billion on development in the first nine months of the 2019-2020 financial year, which is only 20.6% of the allocated funds.
Murang'a County reported the highest absorption rate of 60% of its development budget, spending Sh2 billion. In contrast, Nairobi, Samburu, and Nyandarua counties performed poorly, with absorption rates of 11.1%, 6%, and 4.1% respectively.
The report also noted that failure by the National Treasury to disburse funds on time affected the execution of development programmes in counties.
During the period, county governments generated Sh28 billion from local revenue sources, which was 48.5% of the annual target of Sh57.8 billion. However, this was a slight decrease compared to Sh28.9 billion generated in a similar period of the 2018/2019 financial year.
Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakango emphasized the need for county governments to contain expenditure on personnel emoluments at sustainable levels.
