The Controller of Budget has released a report highlighting significant irregularities in Busia County’s budget implementation for the first quarter of the 2024/2025 financial year.
As of 30 June 2024, the County Government of Busia reported pending bills amounting to Kshs. 2.25 billion. This includes Kshs. 2.21 billion owed by the County Executive and Kshs. 40 million by the County Assembly. The outstanding bills from the County Executive comprise Kshs. 1.51 billion for recurrent expenditures and Kshs. 698.72 million for development projects.
In the first half of the 2024/25 financial year, the County Executive settled Kshs. 183.59 million in pending bills, including Kshs. 45.55 million for recurrent expenses and Kshs. 135.04 million for development. Meanwhile, the County Assembly paid Kshs. 25 million towards development projects.
At the start of the financial year, the County Executive committed to paying pending bills in monthly instalments of Kshs. 118.38 million, while the Assembly pledged Kshs. 5 million. However, the Executive did not adhere to this plan, instead paying a total of Kshs. 183.59 million during the review period. The County Assembly, however, remained committed to its pledge, disbursing Kshs. 25 million.
By 31 December 2024, the county’s total unpaid bills stood at Kshs. 2.04 billion, with Kshs. 2.02 billion owed by the County Executive and Kshs. 15 million by the County Assembly.
The report also examined the county’s operations and maintenance expenditure, revealing that 6% of funds were allocated to domestic travel and 1% to foreign travel. Domestic travel spending totalled Kshs. 103.45 million, with Kshs. 30.10 million allocated to the County Executive and Kshs. 73.35 million to the County Assembly. Foreign travel expenditure stood at Kshs. 23.77 million, with Kshs. 13.77 million spent by the Executive and Kshs. 10 million by the Assembly.
Overall, total spending on domestic travel reached Kshs. 162.09 million, comprising Kshs. 102.06 million by the Assembly and Kshs. 60.04 million by the Executive.
The County Government maintained 13 accounts in commercial banks, including accounts for health facilities, two established funds, a revenue account, and two special-purpose accounts.
A major concern highlighted in the report is the significant shortfall in own-source revenue, with the county collecting only Kshs. 141.06 million—just 22% of the annual target of Kshs. 647 million.
Additionally, the report flagged the County’s continued use of a manual payroll system, with personnel emoluments amounting to Kshs. 122.71 million, representing 11% of overall payroll expenses. The reliance on a manual system poses risks of misuse and potential loss of public funds due to weak controls.
The Controller of Budget has recommended that the County improve its own-source revenue collection to fully finance the approved budget. It also urges the County Government to address the issue of pending bills to ensure timely payments and transition salary processing to the IPPD system for better accountability.
