Devolved units spent 26pc of Coronavirus funds kitty 

A new report by a lobby tracking Covid-19 funds estimates that County governments have only spent Sh3.1 billion out of the Sh13.1 billion allocated by the national government for mitigation measures against the pandemic.

Follow the money (FTM), an Africa-wide civil society that has been tracking down usage of the funds in seven African countries attributed the low absorption rate- 26 per cent- to lack of a plan to spend the money and late disbursement of the funds from the central government.

The report was done between January and February 2020, covering Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Uasin Gishu, Kiambu and Turkana counties. 

Counties access their money from the county revenue fund account through quarterly requisition, a process Josephine Nyamai, the FTM budget coordinator said was tedious and delayed funds disbursement.

Back and forth

“The requisition is a process that requires many actors, and has a lot of back and forth. When you look at the Controller of Budget report, she notes that most counties did not have a plan to spend that money. When it comes to the closing of the financial year and the money is not spent, it is returned to the National Treasury,” said Nyamai.

The central government was already hard pressed financially with the problem intensifying in March 2020, when the first case of Covid-19 pandemic was reported, leading to revenue intensive mitigation measures. Counties depend for resources from the national government’s equitable share contributions, conditional grants and from their own source revenue. 

Nyamai said the Sh13 billion allocation was meant for among other uses, buying 300 beds and ventilators, as well as construction of oxygen plants. Only Kisumu county has set up an Oxygen Plant at the county referral hospital.

Weighing in, Evelyn Mathai, FTM’s coordinator for Nairobi, East and Central Africa hub said the counties were setting unrealistic budget targets and over-relying on conditional grants, which she said was not sustainable.

“A sector like health, we have so many conditional grants that make a huge percentage of the revenue available for public health so we also need to put in measures to ensure sustainability because once these donors stop, what happens,” she said. Mathai said there was resistance in disclosure of vital information, like verifying the number of beds, leading them to believe it was a smoke-screen to conceal corruption. 

“We wanted to see things like increased bed capacity but even that was difficult, unless you go physically to check and for them to gain you access to those facilities to count, it was impossible,” she added. 

“Why do you think counties are not availing information to be audited and yet it’s a requirement by the office of the controller of budgets to ensure the money was used wisely. But they are ignoring and there is no repercussions. 

There is a reason because without those documents, you cannot be able to evaluate how absorption of those funds is happening and also how expenditure is taking place. So they are hiding something,” she said,” she said and singled out Nairobi and Bomet counties as the most notorious.

Documented reports

The research by FTM has been released amidst documented reports of misuse of $7.8 million (over Sh890 million) meant to buy Covid-19 medical supplies through the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority.