Makueni MCAs blame executive for poor development

Makueni Assembly Majority Leader and Chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee reacts during a press conference in his office on July 27, 2016. Ward representatives have criticised the Executive over revelation by the Controller of Budgets that the county government had used 14.9 per cent of its development budget for the 2015/2016 financial year by the third quarter. PHOTO | PIUS MAUNDU | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • At a press conference on Wednesday, the chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee who is also the Majority Leader Francis Mutuku said the low expenditure was inexcusable.
  • The Budget Implementation Review Report for the devolved zone for the first nine months of the financial year that Nation saw, identifies low budget absorption rate as one of the challenges hampering effective budget implementation in the county government.

The Controller of Budget's revelation that Makueni County government had used only 14.9 per cent of its development budget by the third quarter of the 2015/2016 financial year has sparked sharp criticism on the Executive by the Assembly.

At a press conference on Wednesday, the chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee who is also the Majority Leader Francis Mutuku said the low expenditure was inexcusable.

"We had passed the budget on time and without any hiccups and so the Executive has no excuse to have refused to commit the monies to development projects," said Mr Mutuku who was flanked by six Ward Representatives.

According to the report signed by the Controller of Budget Agnes Odhiambo, the county government utilized 14.9pc of its development budget by March this year becoming the second county after Nyeri to put the least of its development money to use.

The Budget Implementation Review Report for the devolved zone for the first nine months of the financial year that Nation saw, identifies low budget absorption rate as one of the challenges hampering effective budget implementation in the county government.

It also faults the county government for failing to meet its local revenue collection target of Sh400 million and not establishing an internal audit committee.

According to the MCAs, the low absorption rate of the development money was occasioned by lazy and incompetent government officials.

The Ward representatives singled out low collection of local revenue that that the Controller of Budget had underlined and said that the Executive should have sealed all loopholes on collection of revenue.

"Since we came to power, we have been setting aside money for the automation of revenue collection and it is surprising that the Executive has not implemented," said Mr Mutuku, adding that in the 2015/2016 financial year, Sh30 million had been set aside for that purpose.

However, the county government's Finance Executive Mary Kimanzi termed the report as outdated and said that by the end of the Financial Year in June, 88pc of the Sh4.2 billion meant for development had been used.

"Only 12pc of the development budget awaits procurement once the current supplementary budget is passed," she told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting at Kwa Kathoka Agriculture Training Centre.

She blamed centralized procurement for the slow uptake of development money, explaining that after the procurement department was decentralized to the departments in March, uptake of development money had shot up.

On the collection of local revenue, she said that automation of the revenue department had been dampened by a suit that challenged the procurement of an automation system.

But the MCAs rubbished Ms Kimanzi's explanation on the percentage of the Budget utilised saying "the Finance Department cannot appraise itself."