Spotlight on governors over house allowances

Counties are once again caught in a storm after they defied a directive from the national government to build official residences for their governors and who have continued to draw millions of shillings in house allowances.

Various national government oversight agencies have raised concern that current governors and their predecessors have consistently defied directives to put up official residences and have been using the loophole to draw house allowances while living in their private homes.

A survey by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) indicates that all 47 counties have failed to build residences for their top officials who have instead continued to claim a Ksh250,000 monthly house allowance from State coffers.

The survey now accuses some of the county chiefs of allegedly failing to implement the directive out of a motivation to continue drawing the allowances since they own private residences.

“In some counties, the Governor, Deputy Governor and/or the County Assembly Speaker have their homes within the vicinity of the County Headquarters/Chambers.

As such, there is no motivation to prioritise the construction of the official residences,” the report indicates.

SRC, the Auditor General, Controller of Budget and the National Treasury are now contemplating surcharging former and present governors billions of shillings that the devolved units have continued to splurge on house allowances.

Only Homa Bay, Makueni, Mandera. Kilifi, Isiolo and Kajiado county governments have built residences for their governors and deputy governors to date.

Makueni has also completed the speaker’s residence becoming the first county to accomplish the task.

Kisumu has completed the deputy governor’s and speaker’s houses but has not begun construction of the governor’s.

This is despite the fact that all the counties have been allocating millions of shillings in their annual budgets towards the construction of the said official residences.

However, the chairperson of the Council of Governors Anne Waiguru says 14 county governments have so far completed the works while others are in progress despite the numerous challenges that include delay in the disbursement of funds by the national government.

“The challenge counties have faced in completion of this is delay in disbursements and in some instances, emergence of disasters that disrupt the continuation where funds are directed to manage what is critical at that particular moment,” Waiguru told  People Daily.

But speaking to this writer by telephone yesterday, Murang’a Governor Irungu Kang’ata said some of his colleagues have stopped the construction of the official residences as well as claiming the house allowances.

“We do not intend to build official residences. We also stopped paying rent for the governor’s offices. What profits a governor to live in a mansion that doesn’t belong to him?

“Other priorities like hospitals are more important. We are building dispensaries instead,” Kang’ata said.

In Kiambu, Governor Kimani Wamatangi’s government has allocated Sh45 million, Sh40 million and Sh35 million respectively for the governor’s, deputy governor’s and speaker’s official residences in this year’s budget respectively.

“The inclusion of the budgetary allocations for the projects were as a result of the requirement by SRC for the houses to be constructed,” Eric Wainaina, the governor’s spokesman said.

A simple calculation indicates that taxpayers spend Sh282 million annually on house allowances for governors and deputy governors, without including the amount spent on speakers, their deputies and other senior county officers.

Dire consequences

For the last 10 years since 2013, the country has spent Sh2.82 billion on the governors and their deputies’ house allowances, money that would have been diverted on other things had the counties constructed their residencies.

SRC had in a letter dated June 27, 2022, addressed to all governors, county secretaries and county secretaries reminded the devolved units that June 30, 2022, remained the deadline for them to have constructed the official residences.

“Following requests from counties that had not been able to construct the official residences, the deadline was extended to June 30, 2022, to allow the counties additional time to allocate funds and prioritize construction,” the memo signed by SRC chairperson Lynn C. Mengich indicated.

It further went on to warn: “Consequently, the Commission advises that the option for County Governments paying rent/leasing official residential houses for the Governors, Deputy Governors and County Assembly Speakers shall cease on June 30, 2022, as earlier communicated.”

 Mengich says all the counties that have failed to comply with the directive must do so immediately or face dire consequences, which she, however, declined to disclose.

SRC had in 2013, at the onset of devolution, given the governors, deputy governors, speakers of the county assemblies and deputy speakers the green light to claim house allowances as long as their homes were yet to, either get off the ground or, be completed.