Counties should allocate more to capital spending

Debate on the urgency by the national and county government chiefs to prioritise development expenditure over recurrent expenditure, will not disappear soon. The Budget Policy Statement 2015, released by Treasury on Wednesday, points out that counties are facing numerous challenges in observing the Public Finance Management Act 2012.

For instance, Controller of Budget report shows that between July and end of September 2014, counties spent Sh44.24 billion, out of which Sh33.83 billion (74 per cent) was for recurrent activities and Sh11.41 billion (26 per cent) for development activities. Some counties didn’t spend a penny on development.

More worrying is that some county budgets have not complied with the fiscal rule set under Section 107 of the PFM Act, 2012 that limit development spending at 30 per cent of County government budgets. This is primarily due to high wage bills. Infrastructural investments fetch the highest premiums compared to bloated staff, which often is done to serve political expediency. A lean, but skilled staff coupled with more resources channeled towards improving the road network, promoting education and health facilities, are worthwhile investments.

They are the very foundations that set the pace towards achieving unrivaled and shared prosperity for all. Any temptation to appease political cronies, friends and relatives by offering jobs that only help to swell the wage bill will never augur well for the county governments. It stifles the much-needed space and ecosystem to promote tangible and sustainable economic growth and development for all.