The new Kisumu Finance executive George Okong'o has promised to address the county's ballooning wage bill and improve revenue collection.
Okong'o was sworn in on Tuesday by chief magistrate Julius Ng'arng'ar after his nomination was approved last week by the county assembly.
Governor Anyang' Nyong'o appointed Okong'o to the position after the former Finance CEC Nerry Achar was moved to the Energy and Industrialisation docket.
Okong'o said that the wage bill is a policy matter that needs to be addressed in the same manner as the national government is currently doing.
The new CEC also said that at the top of his agenda is streamlining the budgeting and planning process to be elaborate, timely and inclusive.
On revenue, Okong'o said that financial systems have been reviewed to take corrective measures to improve the county's collections.
“The key issue is assessment of the streams to determine highest potential, which is structured revenue rather than the unstructured streams. We have to invest in revenue collection,” he said.
The Finance CEC promised prudent expenditure and cash flow management by proper estimation of requirements to eliminate pending bills.
Compliance with public finance management procedures to minimise audit queries and debt management will be prioritised, he said.
“I will also ensure that implementation of the county projects is timely while working with contractors with the capacity to deliver,” he added.
While being vetted on October 31, the nominee was quizzed over the controversies surrounding the procurement of the governor's official vehicle.
He was tasked to explain the role he played in ensuring there was accountability in procurement of the vehicle when he was the economic advisor to the governor and acting county secretary.