Kawira’s Government on spot for breaching wage bill cap, fails to meet revenue target
The County Government of Meru is on the spot for breaching the salary, perking the spending cap.
This is after a report by the County Assembly of Meru- Select Committee on County Budget and Appropriations revealed that Governor Kawira Mwangaza-led government spent more than 35percent of the total revenue on wages and benefits to public officers hence breaching the Public Finance Management Act 2012.
The Public Finance Management Act 2012 require county government’s expenditure on wages and benefits for its public officers shall not exceed a percentage of the county government’s total revenue as prescribed by the County Executive member for finance in regulations and approved by the County Assembly.
According to experts extra spending on salaries and benefits outside the law reduces the amount that the County channels to development programs.
The report indicated that the County Treasury spent 46 percent of its revenue on compensation to employees contrary to the provisions of Section 107(2) (b) of the Public Finance Management Act 2012.
Only 21 percent of the total budget for the year 2022/2023 was used on development.
The Assembly report revealed that Kawira’s Government received a revenue of Sh11.563 billion in the financial year 2022/2023 while the actual total expenditure was Sh11.457 billion resulting to an unspent balance of Sh106 Million.
It was further revealed that out of Sh11.563 billion received, Sh5.8 billion was used to compensate employees while Sh3.03 billion was used on goods and services with only Sh2.72 billion used on development.
The report castigated the Meru Revenue Board for failing to meet its target of Sh600 Million collection of its own source revenue managing to collect only Sh385 million.
Meru County has been on the spot for struggling to handle its fiscal affairs a decade since devolution.
