Murang’a County Own Source revenue grew by 26.49 percent from Sh520.3 million collected during the FY 2021-2022 to Sh658.17 million collected in the FY 2022-2023.
According to the County Assembly’s Report on the County Budget and Review Outlook Paper (CBROP) 2023 seen by KNA, the county revenue target amounted to Sh1.58 billion where Sh1 billion was own source revenue while Sh500 million was from the privatization of the Murang’a County Creameries.
Some of the highest performing revenue streams include Licenses Sh214,814,773 (up from Sh106, 214, 073), hospitals and health centers Sh123,750,039 (up from Sh81,250,808), Liquor licenses Sh54,707,214 (increase from Sh16, 098,213), Plan approval Sh16,540,791 among others.
The projected resource envelope for the year 2024- 2025 indicates that the county revenue will grow over the medium term by 2 percent and 2.5 percent respectively.
The report stated that the Murang’a County government was able to utilize 86 percent of the approved budget for the FY 2022-2023 and that verified pending bills amounted to Sh 642,197,909.
“The county government had an approved budget amounting to Sh9.8 billion where Sh380 million was balance brought forward from the previous year, Sh7.18 billion was the equitable share, Sh1.5 billion was own source revenue target and Sh743.2 million was grants” read a section of the report.
In correspondence, the county spent Sh8.5 billion where Sh380.5 million was from balance brought forward, Sh7.18 billion was from equitable share, Sh658.16 million was from local revenue, and Sh337.1 million was received from grants.
The recurrent expenditure amounted to Sh6.4 billion while the development expenditure was 2.04 billion. The county revenue performed to a tune of 42 percent leading to a budget deficit of 8.5 percent.
The report stated that the reasons for deviations from the financial objectives set out in the adopted County Fiscal Strategy Paper (CFSP) 2022 was that it was a transitional year and the new administration had to review the existing planning framework to align its manifestos and objectives to the budget.
“The fiscal year being reviewed was a unique period given the current county administration was inaugurated in September 2022. This led to the amendment of the Annual Development Plan and adoption of a supplementary budget 2022-2023,” read the report.
The county government policies and programmes are aimed at promoting economic growth through agricultural productivity.
In this regard, new programmes introduced include Agricultural Input subsidy, Health support fund, school-feeding program, Youth empowerment programs, ongoing infrastructural projects, and automation of payment systems among others, which have promoted equity and growth across the county.
Additionally, the County Integrated Development Plan was adopted during the financial year and has provided a fiscal framework for implementing the current budget 2023- 2024 and over the Medium Term.
The Assembly’s Budget and Appropriation Committee Chair Charles Machigo said the committee recommended that during the financial year 2024-2025, the County Treasury should prioritize resource mobilization through its own source revenue enhancement and development of Public-Private Partnerships
“The county should ensure that the fiscal framework is strictly adhered to during the strategy and budget stages to create fiscal space for development programs that lead to economic growth,” he said.
Further, he said the County Treasury should ensure that budgets and policy documents are prepared while considering the macroeconomic variables such as global economic growth, inflation rate, exchange rate, and changes in GDP.
The CBROP reviews the previous year’s fiscal performance and reasons for deviations from the financial objectives set in the county fiscal strategy paper and proposals to address the challenges.
In scrutinizing past performance, lawmakers are equipped with information that enables them to make future decisions. The report is also important in the budget cycle because it links planning and budgeting and facilitates the Medium Term Expenditure Framework.
By Anita Omwenga
