The Narok Executive Member in Charge of Finance, Julius Sasai on Tuesday presented a Sh. 11.3 Billion budget estimates to the county assembly, a figure that is Sh. 906 million less than the previous year’s figure.
Sasai said the deficit is occasioned by the reduction in equitable share from the national allocation that reduced from Sh. 9.1 billion in the financial year 2019/2020 to Sh. 8.2 billion in the coming financial year.
The executive member noted that the global Coronavirus pandemic had affected the collections in the financial year ending this month as the county mainly depends on tourism for the collection of local revenue.
“The ban of international travel affected the Maasai Mara which gives the most revenue. The effect is expected to split over to the first and second quarter in the next financial year,” said Sasai.
A former banker and a finance expert the CEC explained that by May this year, the local collections was Sh. 2.2 billion which is less than what was collected in the same period last year when the collection was Sh. 2.7 Billion.
“Comparatively this year’s performance translates to 15 percent drop because of the effects of the global covid-19 pandemic,” he said adding that they have focused on maximizing local revenue collection by putting up appropriate systems to collect an estimate of Sh. 3.2 billion.
He added the County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP) will be adjusted to improve the social economic recovery of all the residents following the Covid-19 pandemic.
The executive member allocated Sh.3.93 billion which translates to 35 percent for recurrent expenditure, 3.69 billion which is 33 percent of the budget for operations and maintenance and Sh. 3.6 billion (32 percent) of the budget for development.
The county assembly got the lion share of the budget as they were allocated Sh. 925 million as it plays a critical role of oversight. Sh. 706 Billion will go for personal emoluments while the rest will be used for development.
In a bid to fight the current global Coronavirus, the department of health was allocated 30.3 percent of the total budget.
Sh. 100 million was set aside for the County Emergency and Response committee, Sh. 318 million for Medical services and Sh. 21 million allocated for uniform and protective gears.
The county has also allocated Sh. 260 Million for rehabilitation of schools in preparation of school reopening and Sh. 210 million for bursaries.
By Ann Salaton
