Counties Are Spending 70% Of Revenue On Salaries And Allowances

As Kenyans continue to suffer due to the high cost of living, some counties are living large with county bosses giving little regard to developments and people’s welfare in terms of revenue allocation.

According to the Controller of Budgets in Kenya, Margate Nyakang’o, most counties in Kenya are allocating zero shillings for developments from the revenue they collect with some spending 70 percent of revenue on salaries and allowances.

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Kisii County, for instance, used 70 percent of revenue collected to pay salaries and allowances in 2023 with nothing going for developments or uplifting people’s lives. This is against what the law requires that salaries and allowances should only account for 35 percent.

11 other counties used between 50 to 60 percent of their revenue to pay employees. Some of the highest spenders were Kiambu, Machakos, Nyeri, Garissa, and Tharakan Nithi.

Three counties out of the 47 in the country hit their own source of revenue targets; Kitui at 110.6 percent, Kirinyaga at 112.3 percent, and Lamu at 119.8 percent. Seven counties recorded less than 50 percent of their revenue collection targets.

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At the same time, 11 counties spent less than 20 percent of their total revenue on development. These counties are; Kisii at 5.7 percent, Kiambu at 10.2 percent, Nairobi at 13.9 percent, Machakos at 16.8 percent, and Busia at 16.8 percent.

Others that neglected developments included Mombasa, Tharaka Nithi, Laikipia, Migori, and Kisumu. 7 counties spent at least 30 percent of their budgets on development. They are Marsabit, Baringo, Uasin Gishu, Mandera, Kwale, Kilifi, and West Pokot.

Counties have been called on for spending millions of unnecessary travels. Nairobi County used 337.20 million shillings on travels, Baringo used 184.33 million shillings, Mombasa used 124.84 million, Nakuru 100.60 million, and Kitui 96.99 million.

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