Economy

Uhuru seeks forum to discuss public expenditure

uhuru

President Uhuru Kenyatta. FILE PHOTO | NMG

President Uhuru Kenyatta has announced plans to hold a national forum to discuss public expenditure.

Currently, more than 50 percent of ordinary revenue goes into salaries of civil servants, 30 percent to recurrent expenditure and only 20 percent to development.

The President said Tuesday the summit, whose date he did not state, would discuss how national and county governments would review their expenditure.

“We shall invite all stakeholders to the summit so we find ways of rectifying this wrong so that most of the money will be going to citizens and not to pockets of a few individuals,” he said during the Sixth Devolution Conference in Kirinyaga.

Mr Kenyatta said it makes no sense that a county with revenue of Sh9 billion to spend Sh6 billions on salaries and a paltry Sh3 billion on its people.

Counties spent Sh50.9 billion in the three months to September with Sh47.4 billion of the amount going into recurrent expenditure. The devolved units Sh3.51 billion development, according to the Controller of Budget data.