Counties prioritising salaries over development- Controller of Budget

County governments are now being obliged to prioritize salary payment over development, according to the national and county governments budget implementation evaluation report for the third quarter of 2022/2023.
According to a report released on Wednesday by Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o, county development is at an all-time low, with only Ksh29.7 billion (12%) spent on development out of the Ksh239.7 billion released to counties in the last nine months.
Nyakang’o revealed that of the cash allocated to devolved units, Ksh135.8 billion was spent on salaries, while Ksh74.09 billion was spent on maintenance and operations.
Lamu, Tharaka Nithi, and Embu counties were also identified as having the lowest development spending for the time under review, with Ksh2.15 billion, Ksh2.79 billion, and Ksh2.89 billion, respectively.
The report also stated that a decrease in county governments’ own-source revenue collections had aggravated the situation.
Nairobi, Turkana, and Kiambu counties, on the other hand, are the highest spenders, with Ksh17.32 billion, Ksh10.04 billion, and Ksh8.83 billion, respectively.
During the report’s launch, the Controller of Budget stated that a delay in the delivery of cash by the exchequer resulted in the devolved units addressing their most pressing issues, which in their case were salaries.
“Due to the delay in the release of funds, counties are unable to implement their development budgets and must instead redirect the funds to salary payment.” This, however, leads to limited development,” Nyakang’o explained.
She justified the National Treasury’s delayed payout, claiming that it could only release what was in the country’s purse.
“The National Treasury cannot release what it lacks.” “They only release what they have,” she explained. Nyakang’o also recommended counties to take steps to increase their own-source revenue collection, which had declined during the period under review, according to the report.
The Controller of Budget also urged county executives to set realistic budget income targets in order to avoid a backlog of pending invoices.
“As of March 31, 2023, the total amount of pending bills in counties was Ksh159.73.”  Nairobi received Ksh102.81 billion, Wajir Ksh5.38 billion, Kiambu Ksh5.33 billion, and Mombasa Ksh4.91 billion, according to the report.
Simultaneously, the Office of the Controller of Budget indicated that 22 counties are falling behind in terms of own-source tax collections. Those counties include; Nakuru, Murang’a, Kericho, Vihiga, Nyamira, Kwale, Embu, Kisumu, and Kakamega are the counties involved. Taita-Taveta, Wajir, Makueni, Tharaka-Nithi, Busia, Homa Bay, Kisii, Kajiado, Nairobi, Garissa, Tana River, Nandi, and Mandera.