Editorials

Account for poor county project funds utilisation

Money

Voters and their representatives need to pile pressure on county governments to use funds more efficiently to fast-track the development of their localities.

It is disturbing that many of the devolved units continue to record poor performance in terms of utilisation of funds earmarked for development.

This not only flouts the law, but it also holds back citizens who had great expectations from the introduction of the county governments in 2013.

A report by the Controller of Budget (CoB) shows that 19 counties spent less than 20 percent of the money allocated for development running into billions of shillings in the first nine months of the 2021/22 fiscal year.

Among those lagging behind in absorbing development, funds are Taita Taveta, Machakos, Baringo, Nairobi City, Lamu, Narok, and Wajir.

Others were Nyandarua, Kisumu, Kiambu, Turkana, West Pokot, Trans Nzoia, Siaya, Garissa Kilifi, Elgeyo Marakwet, Vihiga, and Migori.

Citizens should demand greater accountability from their leaders including governors, executive teams, and members of the county assemblies.

It does not make sense for counties to keep protesting delays in funding from the central government yet they are not spending what is already allocated.

The upcoming elections should offer an opportunity to review the performance of the incumbents and, if found wanting, inform the decision to deny them votes.

There appears to be no financial consequences for flouting the Public Finance Management Act, 2012 which requires county governments to spend a minimum of 30 percent of their budgets on development.

The dismal performance statistics also point to the need to find solutions to the problems of resource utilisation.

One of the reasons often cited for the failure by counties to meet targeted expenditure is the procurement processes that tend to be time-consuming. Others are litigation by parties that have lost out in a tender.

These problems can be addressed by planning ahead and making sure the process of awarding contracts is done in a transparent manner.

Courts also have a role to play by fast-tracking the determinations of contract disputes.