Senate team warns counties against budget ‘wish lists’

Budgets presented by some counties are mere wish lists and would not be funded, a Senate committee has declared.

The panel on Education, Information, Communication and Technology said some of the budgets were over ambitious and the government could not allocate money for them.

“As the Senate we shall not micro-manage the county budgets, but some of them are just wish lists. I am happy some county representatives are refusing to pass them,” committee chairman Mutahi Kagwe said.

Speaking in Nanyuki when members toured Laikipia County, the senator said though counties had different needs, priorities must be given the right place.

Expenditure monitoring

The committee is moving round the country assessing how the counties were embracing ICT in their operations and the challenges they were facing.
It also wants to see how counties were addressing the issue of polytechnics, early childhood development centres and libraries.

Counties, Mr Kagwe said, would be connected to the national Treasury through a fibre optic cable link for easier monitoring of expenditure.

Elsewhere, a group of 10 lawmakers from the Rift Valley has asked governors to cut down on luxurious spending and invest more funds on development projects. Speaking in Nandi County MP Joana Ngeno from Trans-Mara County questioned why some governors had allocated millions of shilling towards entertainment yet key projects received poor funding.

Aldai MP Cornelius Serem said: “Kenyans want to gain from county governments but some governors are doing the opposite by allocating themselves too much money for luxurious living.”

Nandi Senator Stephen Sang, his Trans-Nzoia counterpart Henry Ndiema and Keiyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen attended urged county governments to spend public funds well.

Mr Sang urged counties to direct more funds towards development projects at the grassroots to reduce poverty level.

Also present at the function was Deputy President William Ruto.