Nairobi County has been flagged for spending the least on development, according to the Controller of Budget’s latest County Governments Budget Implementation Review Report (CGBIRR).
Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o revealed that Nairobi used only Ksh4 billion of the Ksh14 billion set aside for development projects. This amounted to just 12 percent of its total expenditure, far below the constitutional requirement.
Section 107(2)(b) of the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act, 2012 requires counties to allocate at least 30 percent of their budgets to development spending over the medium term. Regulation 25(1)(g) of the PFM (County Governments) Regulations, 2015 further directs that actual expenditure must reflect this.
Nairobi’s performance left it last on a list of underperforming counties, which included Machakos, Kisumu, Kiambu, and Kajiado. The capital also recorded a low absorption rate of 28.7 percent of its development budget.
Machakos, Kisumu Also Underperform
Machakos County ranked second-lowest, spending Ksh1.9 billion – just 16 percent – of its Ksh4.9 billion allocation. County officials attributed the shortfall to a downward revision of the budget caused by cash-flow problems.
Kisumu followed with only 17 percent of its development allocation spent. Out of Ksh5.4 billion budgeted, the county used just Ksh1.5 billion. Nyakang’o noted that Kisumu blamed the poor performance on pending bill payments totaling Ksh1.3 billion.
Kiambu was also flagged for low development spending, using only Ksh2.9 billion of the Ksh7.8 billion allocated – 18 percent of its budget. The county cited delays in the disbursement of equitable share funds.
Kajiado tied with Kiambu at 18 percent, spending just Ksh1.7 billion out of its Ksh3.8 billion allocation. According to the COB, this was due to delays in receiving additional allocations.
