Counties have been tightening their belts to boost own source revenue to top up the revenue share by the national government and fund their development and recurrent expenditures.
A report by Controller of Budget (CoB) Margaret Nyakang’o shows that Mombasa, Narok, Kiambu and Machakos counties surpassed their collection targets as compared to the same period last financial year, almost doubling it.
Kiambu, Narok and Mombasa each collected more than Ksh.2 billion within a period of nine months.
The CoB also ranked counties based on how they have improved their revenue collection systems, doubling their collections compared to previous years.
Narok, Kitui, Vihiga and Baringo form part of the top five counties in that category.
Ms. Nyakang’o however flushed a red card on Nyamira County, having only collected 23 per cent of its revenue target during the same period.
Nakuru, Kajiado and Makueni form the cluster of poorly performing counties at the bottom of the list in terms of revenue collection.
The Controller of Budget also ranked counties based on the absorption of development expenditure.
Tharaka Nithi County, during the same period, absorbed 49 per cent of its share on development, while Samburu, Narok and Nyeri counties each absorbed more than 40 per cent of their revenue during the same period on the development vote.
Governor Cecily Mbarire’s Embu County and Ochillo Ayacko’s Migori County absorbed below six per cent of their allocation on development during the same period.
The report further focused on sitting allowances for county assembly members.
Migori County MCAs were the highest paid during the period under scrutiny, with each pocketing an average of Ksh.104,467 every month in sitting allowances alone.
Kajiado County MCAs however pocketed the least amount of money during the same period, with the Controller of Budget noting that they may not have been attending all of their sittings for the last nine months.
