Ten County governments across country are under scrutiny for their expenditure practices, with the Controller of Budget and the Office of the Auditor General flagging several issues.
The two identified issues such as unauthorized payments, overstaffing, and unsupported payments as key contributors to the wastage in the public wage bill.
According to a report by the Controller of Budget, ten counties, led by Kitui, have been singled out for prioritizing wages over critical infrastructure expenditure, with wage bills consuming up to 75% of the total revenue.
Other counties, including Kisii, Garissa, Busia, Nyamira, West Pokot, Machakos, Embu, Nairobi, and Wajir, have also been blacklisted for allocating over 60% of their revenue to wages, neglecting crucial development projects.
Controller of Budget Raises Alarm
Margaret Nyakang’o, the Controller of Budget emphasized that the wage bill for each level of government should not exceed 35% of total revenues.
“75 % of all your money going to personal emoluments leaves you with only 25% for the rest of the recurrent and the development,” said Nyakang’o
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Deputy Auditor General Isaac Ng’ang’a highlighted the key issue of unsupported payments saying: “Issues of fictitious employees on payroll leading to salaries being syphoned off, you pay but if we trace that money it goes to pay other people.”
“There must be a systemic overhaul to prevent fraud caused by financial mismanagement.”
The Council of Governor’s remarks
The Council of Governors (CoG) called for a proactive remuneration plan that rewards human resource productivity and advocates for strengthening the civil service in counties.
Additionally, the CoG emphasized the importance of a remuneration plan that incentivizes productivity rather than indiscriminate staff promotions.
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Also, governors asked the National Treasury to release cash promptly to counties to enhance productivity and ensure sustainable expenditure practices.
“We want a remuneration plan that does not just reward employees in unions, but those not in unions also. The National Treasury to be proactive in releasing resources to counties as one of the ways of scaling up productivity,” said Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga.
They made the remarks during the 3-day National Wage Bill Conference 2024.
The event sought to address the challenges surrounding public wage bill and promote sustainable expenditure practices that prioritize critical infrastructure development.
