What austerity? MCAs sitting allowances rise

Sitting allowances paid to ward representatives rose in six months to last December, signalling defiance of the government's drive to curb non-essential expenditure.

The latest report by Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang'o shows 2,199 ward representatives were paid Sh1.16 billion in allowances between July and December 2019, up from Sh1.08 billion paid in a similar period in the 2018/19 financial year (FY).

The allowances are paid out for attending plenary (chamber) sittings and committee meetings. This is in addition to their monthly salaries.

"The Sh1.16 billion was against an approved budget allocation of Sh2.89 billion. This expenditure translates to 40 per cent of the approved MCAs sitting allowance budget, and an increase from 38.9 per cent attained in a similar period of FY 2018/19 when Sh1.08 billion was spent," Dr Nyakang'o said in the County Governments Budget Implementation Review FY 2019/20 report.

The Budget office has previously warned that meeting and travel allowances are taking a huge chunk of county governments' revenues.

HIGH EXPENDITURE

However, the politicians argue that they deserve the high compensation because constituents expect them to provide charitable support.

But more worrying is that some counties paid more allowances than the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) recommended monthly ceiling of Sh124,800.

Homa Bay, Kakamega, Kisii, Kisumu, Meru and Kisumu county assemblies led the allowances gravy train in the review period, with their MCAs pocketing Sh204,260, Sh155,394, Sh136,181, Sh133,528 and Sh127,279, respectively.

MCAs in Samburu were the least paid, earning Sh25,154; while those in Kajiado got Sh27,100. But the low spend could mean that the counties failed to have committee sessions in the period.

Mombasa County Assembly did not report any expenditure on sitting allowance.

Counties that paid above the Sh100,000 mark were Busia (Sh119,662), Embu (Sh 114,067), Wajir (Sh114,104), Nyandarua (Sh104,383), Makueni (Sh109,389), Kwale (Sh104,055) and Kitui (Sh104,055).

Dr Nyakang'o also raised concern on the high expenditure on personal emoluments by the counties.

LIMIT ON WAGES

The 47 county governments spent Sh80.9 billion on personnel emoluments (PE), which accounted for 56.5 per cent of the total expenditure for the period and a slight increase from Sh80.02 billion incurred in a similar period in FY 2018/19 when the personnel expenditure translated to 58.4 per cent of the total expenditure.

Regulation 25 (1) (b) of the Public Finance Management (County Governments) Regulations, 2015, sets a limit of the devolved unit's expenditure on wages and benefits at 35 per cent of the county's total revenue.

"The office recommends that county governments should ensure expenditure on personnel emoluments is contained at sustainable levels and in compliance with Regulation 25 (1) (b) of the Public Finance Management (County Governments) Regulations, 2015," the budget office recommended.