Counties on the spot over lavish spending

County assemblies have set aside huge amounts of money for luxury and comfort at the expense of basic development needs for the residents.

A look at budgets of various devolved units of government shows that staggering amounts have been allocated to luxury vehicles, sprucing up of offices for governors and chambers for county assembly representatives and projects like gyms.

This is at the expense of urgent provision of good roads, clean water, well-equipped schools, hospitals and other key facilities, and setting up of cottage industries.

But Council of Governors chairman Isaac Ruto Thursday defended the county bosses, arguing that some of the critics were ignorant of the situation on the ground.

“You are accusing governors of lavish spending on vehicles. The truth is that there are no vehicles on the ground,” he said.

In Nairobi, Sh462 million was set aside for renovation of the chambers and lounge for county assembly representatives at City Hall, Sh100 million for the purchase of new vehicles, Sh172 million for maintenance of vehicles and Sh30 million for transport allowances for county representatives. The county doubled sitting allowances from Sh80 million to Sh160 million.

In Nakuru, Sh40 million was set aside for construction of the governor’s residence. His entertainment allowance was raised from Sh32 million to Sh33.5 million.

The governor’s office was also allocated Sh16.3 million for both local and international travel. Another Sh17 million will be used to buy vehicles.

The Kisumu County Assembly has set aside Sh72 million for purchase of a fleet of Toyota Prados for its executive committee members.

In Homa Bay, Sh70 million is earmarked for the purchase of vehicles that can withstand the rough terrain of the county, and Sh2.5 million for the construction of a gym.

Reported by Billy Muiruri, Moraa Obiria, Ramenya Gibendi and Maurice Kaluoch