Three Nyanza counties fail to spend on development
Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o. Some counties in the Nyanza region recorded no development expenditure in the first quarter of the financial year 2022/23 according to the Controller of Budget (CoB).
Some counties in the Nyanza region recorded no development expenditure in the first quarter of the financial year 2022/23 according to the Controller of Budget (CoB).
Dr Margaret Nyakang’o in her latest report indicated that most monies went into recurrent expenditure, with wages and benefits taking a big chunk.
The findings were contained in the county government budget implementation review report covering July to September 2022.
“The counties should identify and address issues causing delays in implementing development projects,” said Dr Nyakang’o.
The six counties are Kisumu, Migori, Siaya, Nyamira, Kisii and Homa Bay.
Kisumu County’s approved budget for FY 2022/23 is Sh12.04 billion, comprising Sh 3.81 billion (31.7 per cent) for development and Sh8.22 billion (68.3 per cent) for recurrent expenditure. The county spent Sh1.21 billion on recurrent programmes during the reporting period. This represented 71.1 per cent of the total funds released by CoB and 14.8 per cent of the annual recurrent budget.
“In the first quarter of FY 2022/23, the county did not report any expenditure on development programmes,” noted the CoB report.
Of Siaya County’s approved budget of Sh 8.82 billion, Sh3.33 billion (37.7 per cent) is for development while Sh5.49 billion (62.3 per cent) is for recurrent expenditure. The budget represents a decline of 1.7 per cent compared to the previous financial year.
Development expenditure
Like Kisumu, the county did not report any development expenditure between July and September. Migori County was in the same category. However, it spent Sh818.81 million on recurrent programmes during the period. This represented 96.1 per cent of the total funds released by the CoB and 13.2 per cent of the annual recurrent expenditure.
Homa Bay County spent Sh83.39 million on development programmes representing 100 per cent compared to a similar period in FY 2021/22 when the county did not report expenditure on development activities.
Expenditure on development represented an absorption rate of 2.8 per cent, while recurrent expenditure represented 13.7 percent of the annual recurrent expenditure budget.
In Kisii, Sh1.43 billion was spent on development and recurrent programmes during the reporting period. Expenditure on development programmes represented an absorption rate of 2.3 per cent, while recurrent expenditure represented 16.3 per cent of the annual recurrent expenditure budget.
Nyamira County spent Sh1.05 billion: Sh178.54 million on development and Sh 876.08 million on development. Development expenditure represented an absorption rate of 8.8 per cent while recurrent expenditure represented 19.5 per cent of the annual recurrent expenditure budget.
