Counties' spend on development rose by Sh41 billion in the year to June, highlighting increased economic activities in the devolved units.
Data from the Controller of Budget (CoB) shows counties development expenditure increased 62.1 percent to Sh107.4 billion from the Sh66.8 billion spent a year earlier.
Higher spending on development projects such as roads, water, power plants and real estate stimulates economic activities, helping to create employment for the expanding unemployed graduate youth.
The Sh107.4 billion spend on development projects is the highest since the onset of devolution when counties spent Sh90.4 billion in the year to June 2015.
It accounts for 28 percent of the Sh376.4 billion total expenditure by the counties in the review period, which is slightly below the 30 percent recommended under the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act.
Nairobi spent Sh5.9 billion on its development projects during the period under review, followed by Mandera at Sh5.7 billion, Kakamega at Sh4.9 billion and Wajir Sh4.5 billion.
Counties that spent the least on development include Isiolo at Sh997.9 million, Samburu Sh745 million and Lamu at Sh693.6 million.
Counties have over the recent past grappled with settling contractors and suppliers’ dues, leading to increased pending bills following delayed disbursements by the Treasury.
As at June 2019, the accumulated unsettled financial obligations by the counties stood at 34.5 billion.
In October 30 last year, the Treasury asked Auditor-General Edward Ouko to carry out special audits of the pending bills, which had ballooned to Sh108 billion as at June 2018. The audit showed only those amounting to Sh51.2billion out of the Sh88.9 billion outstanding by June 2018 were eligible for payment.
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