Governors say report on ranking was biased

What you need to know:

  • The Bomet governor said it was wrong for Wajir and Mombasa to be compared, because they are operating under different environments and do not face the same challenges.
  • The report listed counties such as Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru and Nairobi as among those doing badly in development.
  • Wajir, Turkana, Bomet, Machakos, Murang’a, Homa Bay, West Pokot, Trans Nzoia, Kisii and Nyamira, in that order, were listed as having spent more than 30 per cent of their development funds.

Governors have dismissed a World Bank report that ranked counties in terms of their budgetary allocations to development as biased and inaccurate.

Council of Governor chairman Isaac Ruto said the report overlooked key indicators.

“The report did not consider the procedures required before projects are commissioned and executed,” he said.

However, he said the report released on Friday only served to prove that the national government is frustrating devolution by under funding counties.

“Counties are performing 14 functions yet out of the money the national government allocated to development, county governments got only about 20 per cent. This is very little money when shared out among the 47 devolved units,” he said.

The Bomet governor said it was wrong for Wajir and Mombasa to be compared, because they are operating under different environments and do not face the same challenges.

Mr Ruto attributed some of the challenges they are facing to huge debts they inherited from the defunct local authorities.

Kisumu governor Jack Ranguma laughed off the ranking that placed his county at position 46 saying the report did not consider money already committed to on-going projects.

INCOMPLETE PROJECTS

“We do not pay for incomplete projects, may be that is why such money was not considered as allocations to development because it has not been paid out. Our systems only pay for contracts that are complete and certified,” Mr Ranguma said.

“Kisumu is suffering an abnormal wage bill that eats into our development budget. After paying salaries, we are left with about Sh400 million. What do people expect us to do if not concentrate on priority areas?” he asked.

Mr Ranguma said the study did not consider road projects, health, water and agriculture projects already commissioned by the county.

“We have done a lot only that most of the works are not complete. Lack of reports on their progress may be the reason they were not captured by the report,” said Mr Ranguma.

Siaya’s Cornel Rasanga said their efforts in revenue collection was overlooked. “The counties collected more revenue within the first year than former local authorities,” said Mr Rasanga.

DOING BADLY

The report listed counties such as Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru and Nairobi as among those doing badly in development.

Wajir, Turkana, Bomet, Machakos, Murang’a, Homa Bay, West Pokot, Trans Nzoia, Kisii and Nyamira, in that order, were listed as having spent more than 30 per cent of their development funds.

On average, most counties spent 21 per cent on development, 46 per cent on salaries and 30 per cent on administration.

“The major under-spending on development is more worrisome. Almost half of the counties are spending less than the average 22 per cent on development which implies that service delivery in core sectors may be neglected,” says the report.

County governments have been vilified for high spending on salaries and travels at the expense of development.