Counties are spending over 70% on recurrent expenditure

A citizen-led analysis of the Auditor-General’s report on public funds expenditure by County Executives and Assembly has revealed that Counties use more than the constitutional threshold of 70 percent on recurrent expense.

According to National Taxpayers Association’ National Coordinator Irene Otieno, this is a key concern as taxpayers pay more whilst Counties spend more off the budget.

The 2016/2017report further indicates that Counties spent Ksh 2.09 billion on domestic travel expenditure and Ksh 458.9 million on foreign travel yet the two expenditures are not supported by any documentation.

County Assemblies Forum Chairman Johnson Osoi blames this on lack of County Audit Committee and crooked executives.

The report indicates that Nairobi City County topped the list of the best five Counties in revenue generation at Ksh 10.9 billion followed by Narok, Mombasa, Kiambu and Nakuru Counties.

It is against this backdrop that Auditor General Edward Ouko says his office will leverage on the Social Accountability framework to account for public funds at the county level.

The National Taxpayers Association report recommends a raft of measures including authorization from the Controller of Budget prior to any county funds withdrawal and all county payments to be done through IFMIS in efforts to ensure that there is no variance between and bank account statements.