Nairobi workers, MCAs budgets cut

Nairobi County staff and the Assembly have come out worse in the new budget after their allocations were scrapped and slashed respectively.

The provision of Sh689 million for workers’ collective bargaining agreement (CBA) has been done away with despite the budget increasing from Sh35.28 billion to Sh36.98 billion.

On the other hand, the Sh1.67 billion county assembly’s recurrent expenses allocation has been cut by Sh261 million to Sh1.4 billion with part of the amount transferred to the executive to support legislative engagements between the two arms of the government.

In May, Nairobi Employment and Labour Relations Court quashed a CBA deal between the workers and the county government following a petition by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) challenging the pact.

The 2012 CBA, which would have seen county staff get a 15 to 28 percent salary increment beginning the next financial year if implemented, was termed illegal therefore setting aside the agreement.

Overall, the Nairobi County Assembly approved the adjustment of the budget for the financial year ending June 30, 2020 by an additional Sh1.7 billion.

The adjustments saw the overall budget increase from the original estimates of Sh35.28 billion to a new figure of Sh36.98 billion.

Nairobi County Assembly Budget and Appropriations committee chairman Robert Mbatia, while tabling the Nairobi City County Appropriation Bill, 2019 last week, said the upward adjustment has been necessitated by a projected increase in available total revenue.