Governor Rotich slashes travel expenses, bans unofficial use of government vehicles

County governments in the North Rift region have implemented austerity measures to reduce public expenses to cope with the challenges of stalled or incomplete development projects.

Some counties have banned unofficial use of their vehicles, slashed travel expenses, and put in place measures that will promote domestic revenue collections to empower them to attain financial stability.

Elgeyo Marakwet County has barred unofficial use of its vehicles as part of austerity measures aimed at responding to the prevailing hard economic situation.

“It has been decided that henceforth, all county government vehicles shall only be utilised within the county's jurisdiction from 8am to the close of business at 5pm and parked at the county mechanical yard. This applies to all vehicles utilised by the County Executive Members and Departments,” Vincent Bartoo said in a statement for the County Secretary and Head of Public Service.

He said unofficial use of the vehicles outside the stipulated hours will not be tolerated and members of the public have been alerted to report any such misuse.

County officials are now required to seek justifiable reasons to use government vehicles outside the county, and those found to have contravened the decision will be held personally liable.

The devolved unit has likewise formed a 10-man committee on Budget and Economic Forum after Auditor General Nancy Gathungu took issue with the devolved unit in the latest audit report over failure to establish the forum as per the Finance and Management Act.

Governor Wisley Rotich has appointed the Regional CEO at Jubilee Holdings, Dr Julius Kipngetich, to head the team appointed to serve for five years.

The committee comprises representation from professionals, academia, civil society organizations, women, the business community, Youth, and External linkages.

According to the Auditor General report, the forum's purpose is to provide a means for consultation by the County Government on the preparation of county plans, the County Fiscal Strategy Paper, and the Budget Review.

The audit report took issue with the devolved unit over stalled proposed maintenance of Chepkerengoi Road in Sengwer Ward at Sh2.4 million, delayed construction, rehabilitation, and commissioning of the Chepuser-Kapkobil Irrigation Scheme, and delayed construction of the X-ray unit, drilling of Borehole at Kaptarakwa Health Centre.

“The objectives of the Chepkerengoi road project may not have been realised and the public may not have obtained value for money on the expenditure of Sh2,207,600 incurred on the maintenance of the road,” said the audit report.

The Chepuser-Krokodil irrigation scheme was signed in 2021 at a cost of Sh40,603,675 and the contractor was paid Sh29,000,530 on January 20, 2023, with 88 percent of the work done but was not on site.

“The public may not have obtained value for money on the expenditure totaling Sh35,099,070 that was paid towards the project,” said the report.

The devolved unit paid Sh14,954,505 for the construction of the x-ray unit, drilling of the borehole, covered walkways, and ramp at Kaptarakwa Health Centre, but the contractor did 98 percent of the work before leaving the site.

West Pokot County has pending bills amounting to over Sh174 million out of which about Sh2 million dates back to 2016.

According to data from Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) records, the County Executive has an accumulated outstanding tax of Sh249,034,672, which was not disclosed as pending accounts payables.

“Failure to settle pending bills during the year in which they relate distorts the financial statements and adversely affects the budgetary provisions for the subsequent year as they form a first charge. This further exposes the County Executive to risk of avoidable litigation costs, penalties, and interest,” said the report.

The Auditor General's report took issue with incomplete and stalled projects and un-surrendered imprest by the Turkana County Government.

The devolved unit initiated nine projects for Sh42 million in August 2023, two of the projects costing Sh4.97 million were complete and operational, while four constructed at Sh16 million were complete, but not in use. One project costing Sh9.7 million had stalled.

The county had outstanding imprest amounting to Sh119,216,466, which included Sh 98,012,276, which had not been on or before June 30, 2023.

The construction of the Sh1.6 billion Trans Nzoia Teaching and Referral Hospital remains incomplete despite the devolved unit pumping Sh1.57 billion towards the project and the auditor General has expressed doubt over its completion consuming a huge amount of public funds.

The 350-bed facility was aimed at providing specialised medical services to the public.

The audit report found the county executive in breach of the law and the regularity of the advance payment in awarding a contract for the construction of Sh498 million county headquarters.

According to the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA), the devolved generated Sh45 billion out of the targeted Sh216 billion last financial year, which is less than 20 percent of the Domestic Revenue.

Uasin Gishu County earned Sh980 million against a potential of Sh2.8 billion as domestic revenues, signaling incompetency by counties to tap opportunities to increase revenue.

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