MCAs nearly double perks over 9 months

Members of the County Assembly are on the spot again after they illegally pocketed millions of shillings in sitting allowance between July last year and March this year.

The latest Controller of Budget report covering July 2015-March 2016 shows how MCAs from several counties received nearly double the maximum monthly sitting allowance recommended by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission.

The report also shows some counties overshot their expenditure by hundreds of millions of shillings during the nine months.

In one case demonstrating a growing trend where ward representatives tend to channel more resources to their pockets as opposed to development projects, the 54 reps in Busia voted to pay themselves Sh202,969 a month in sitting allowances, nearly double the recommended Sh124,800.

In Taita-Taveta the 36 reps awarded themselves Sh172,810 in monthly sitting allowance while in Siaya, the 49 members pocketed Sh166,830. Since the formation of county governments after the last General Election, sitting allowances and domestic and foreign travel have become the avenues of choice for county assembly members and executives to steal public funds.

Successive reports have exposed members colluding with or arm-twisting county government officials to allocate more resources to the sitting allowances and travel at the expense of development.

Whereas the latest report, signed by Controller of Budget Agnes Odhiambo, reveals that the 47 devolved units spent Sh7.15 billion on travel against an approved annual budget allocation of Sh11.33 billion, it exposes how some counties exceeded the approved budgets.

REGULARISE EXPENDITURE

Trans Nzoia, for instance, spent Sh142 million on domestic and foreign travel against the approved Sh135 million, Makueni spent Sh171.6 million against Sh159.8 million while Bomet used up Sh97 million against Sh82 million.

Ms Odhiambo directed that the three counties pass a supplementary budget before the end of the financial year to regularise the expenditure.

“In absolute terms, Nairobi City County reported the highest expenditure on domestic and foreign travel at Sh320.93 million, followed by Migori and Turkana counties at Sh272.93 million and Sh270.36 million, respectively,” Ms Odhiambo states.

“The counties that had the least expenditure in absolute terms were Tharaka-Nithi, Elgeyo-Marakwet and Narok at Sh65.23 million, Sh56.04 million and Sh19.12 million, respectively.”

The report also faulted Nairobi, Mombasa, Tana River and Wajir for overshooting their budget by hundreds of millions of shillings against the law.

Nairobi spent Sh17.7 billion against expenditure releases of Sh11.13 billion and Mombasa Sh5.9 billion against Sh5.21 and Tana River Sh2.87 billion against Sh2.63 billion.