The Auditor General says government ministries, departments, and agencies spent Sh147.39 billion without approval by parliament in the 2022/23 financial year.
- The Auditor general says this is a very worrying trend and shows deliberate efforts by officials to exploit loopholes to avoid public scrutiny.
- Ten counties did not spend a single shilling on development projects for the first three months of the 2022/23 financial year.
- All the money was spent on paying salaries, allowances, and operational expenses.
They are Nairobi, Machakos, Kilifi, Homabay, Embu, Wajir, Samburu, West Pokot, Turkana, and Kericho.
During the reporting period, county governments spent KSh7 billion on development activities, representing 3.7% of the annual development budget of KSh188 billion.
- 11 counties did not report expenditure on development programs.
- KSh 67.5 billion was spent by counties, made up of KSh6.9 billion on development, KSh41.8 billion on salaries, and KSh18.8 billion on operations.
- Some counties spent under 1% of their budgets on development. These were Nakuru, Makueni, and Bungoma.
Every year the reports of the Auditor-General highlight irregularities in the use of public funds by Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs). As the National Government’s budget and corresponding expenditure increase over time, so are many cases exposed by the Auditor-General on the theft of public funds.
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