10 counties flagged for wastage of public funds amid ballooning wage bill

The Controller of Budget and the Office of the Auditor General have flagged county governments for engaging in misplaced priorities through expenditure.

The two key public finance watchdogs cite unauthorized payment, overstaffing and unsupported payments as key factors contributing to wastage in the public wage bill.

Kitui County leads ten devolved units flagged by the Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang'o with the highest ratio of wages at 75 per cent, at the expense of expenditure on critical infrastructure.

Kisii, Garissa, Busia, Nyamira, West Pokot, Machakos, Embu, Nairobi and Wajir counties are also blacklisted by the Controller of Budget for prioritizing expenditure on wages with over 60 per cent ratio to the total revenue.

“There is a lot of wastage in counties through bloated wage bills. 75% of your taxes pay salaries and only 25% is utilized on development,” said Nyakang'o.

Deputy Auditor General Isaac Ng'ang'a said: “There must be a systemic overhaul to prevent fraud caused by financial mismanagement.”

The Council of Governors (CoG) wants the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) to come up with a remuneration plan that rewards human resource productivity as opposed to blanket promotion of staff.

“We are calling for the strengthening of the civil service in counties, calling for a proactive remuneration plan that recruits and sustains employees akin to that of private companies,” Tharaka Nithi Governor Muthomi Njuki noted.

His Homa Bay counterpart Gladys Wanga added: “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.”

President William Ruto will officially close the 3-day National Wage Bill Conference 2024 on Wednesday.