Assembly Approves Supplementary Budget
- County legislators will also get car loans and mortgages as guided by the Controller of Budget.
- MCAs Endorsed financial estimates to align the expenditure with Governor Sakaja’s political manifesto
Nairobi county assembly has approved the first supplementary budget estimates for the financial year 2022/23, with Kshs 651 million for the MCAs car loans and mortgage scheme.
Allocation has also been made that will see the iconic City Hall Annexe building get a face-lift, Budget and Appropriations Committee chairman Wilfred Odalo told the House in a special sitting presided over by Speaker Ken Ng’ondi.
The supplementary budget has aligned the recurrent and development expenditure with the annual budget of Kshs 39.6 billion that was approved earlier in accordance with the Public Finance Management Act, 2012 and the attendant Regulations.
Key changes in the supplementary budget were necessitated by recommendations of the Controller of Budget (CoB) to in corporate additional resources made available following enactment of the County Governments Additional Allocations Act, 2022 and the need to reclassify allocations for MCAs car loans and mortgages.
“Everything has now been aligned in accordance with the PFM Act and recommendations of the Controller of Budget and Members will now be able to get their car loans and mortgages”, Odalo told the media at the arise of the Assembly.
A total of Kshs 1.379 billion has been allocated to the County Finance and Economic Planning Sector to settle pending bills.
The house approved Kshs 80 million to give the dilapidated 16 floor City Hall Annexe a complete face-lift by refurbishment and branding.
Initial allocation for refurbishment of the building under the Lands Sector was reduced by Kshs 35 million, Budget committee chairman Wilfred Odalo told the Assembly.
Odalo who is Mabatini Ward MCA said contractors would also be paid because more money had been factored into the supplementary budget to accommodate the thorny issue of pending bills.
“I can say the Committee has aligned the Supplementary Budget to suit the governor’s manifesto to the people of Nairobi and we will support him because he is equally supportive to us as the Assembly”, Odalo said.
The House, he noted, had reduced the publication period from seven days to one day to speed up the process in the interest of Nairobians.
“This being the peak period for collection of our own source revenue which includes rates, licenses and cess, we have reduced the publication period so that Nairobians can start realizing the benefits of their taxes”, said the chairman.
Majority Leader Peter Imwatok told the County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Finance Charles Kerich and The County Chief Finance Officer Asha Abdi to look at the Assembly as an independent body.
In the supplementary budget, the House approved an additional allocation of Kshs 200 million as emergency fund for disaster and response recovery in the Office of the Governor and Deputy Governor.
The Committee also set aside another Kshs 35.4 million in the Office of the Governor and Deputy Governor that is intended for intergovernmental relation.
Under the pending bills, the Assembly has approved allocation of funds as enumerated below to settle the debts;
– Kshs 100 million for settlement of pending legal fees,
– Kshs 216 million for payment of outstanding insurance costs for the county assets,
– Kshs 236 million for meeting demands of other creditors owed by the county for both services and goods supplied, and
– Kshs 827 million for payment of pending development expenditures.
The Health sector will receive an additional conditional grant of Kshs 15.9 million under DANIDA UHC programme that is intended for improving health care centres and dispensaries in the county.
However, the House Budget committee also reduced various amounts on expenditure by the county executive while increments were made in other sectors.
Governor Sakaja was last week engaged in induction processes with his entire county cabinet and chief officers to streamline his administration in readiness for service delivery.
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