City Hall can't list Sh600m projects in first half of 2019-20
The city county government may have spent Sh632.1 million on "ghost" development projects in 2019-20 financial year, according to the Controller of Budget.
City Hall could not provide a comprehensive list of development projects implemented during the period under review.
“The Sh632.1 million represented 5.6 per cent of the annual development budget of Sh11.27 billion,” states the CoB report on the county government's budget implementation review for the first half of 2020-21 tabled in the county assembly last week.
City Hall had approved a Sh36.9 billion budget for 2019-20 comprising Sh25.71 billion for recurrent programmes and Sh11.27 billion for development.
But expenditure on most vote heads were on an upward spiral compared to 2018-19.
In the first six months of the financial year, the county spent Sh337.9 million - Sh105.5 million on the county assembly and Sh232.39 million on the executive. This expenditure was 114.7 per cent more than the Sh157.35 million spent in a similar period in 2018-19.
CoB Margaret Nyakang’o notes that Nairobi spent Sh38.87 million on committee sitting allowances for the 124 ward reps and the speaker, a monthly average of Sh52,241 per ward.
A further breakdown shows that Sh93.18 million was spent on utility supplies, office and services and Sh58.60 million on printing, advertising and services.
Some Sh54.78 million went to fuel, oil and lubricants; Sh49.33 million on foreign travel and subsistence. Domestic travel and subsistence drained the county coffers by Sh337.90 million while Sh39.81 million was spent on vehicle maintenance.
City Hall paid creditors Sh2.5 billion and Sh703.23 million to insurers. Training and hospitality supplies took Sh148.36 million while Sh99.24 million was spent on specialised materials and supplies.
It was not a gloom, however, as the Nyakang’o report shows that the county reduced compensation to staff by 15.6 per cent. This translated to Sh5.92 billion compared to Sh7 billion the previous financial year.
The operations and maintenance items of the county's recurrent programmes took Sh10.47 billion.
Nairobi raised Sh3.11 billion pittance as own source revenue, a decrease of Sh620 million from 2018-19.
The devolved unit received Sh5.64 billion as equitable share of the revenue raised nationally and Sh415.85 million disbursement for Road Maintenance Fuel Levy for the 2018/2019 financial year.
Development partners gave Sh37.55 million as loans and grants, Sh122.81 million as Appropriations in Aid. The county had a cash balance of Sh2.58 billion from 2018-19. The total funds available for budget implementation amounted to Sh11.9 billion.
The CoB recommended that the county treasury should prepare a project implementation status report on a quarterly basis and formulate and implement strategies to enhance revenue collection.
Also that the treasury should control expenditure on non-core areas to release resources for essential development programmes.
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