Kisumu county budget is in jeopardy after the MCAs failed to beat the deadline for passing the county’s Sh10 billion budget as required by law.
The MCAs convened for a special sitting on Saturday to approve the budget but ended up postponing the process to this week on Tuesday.
The members, through the budget committee, claimed that the executive failed to provide them with crucial information and docket to fast-track the process.
The budget and appropriation committee chair Judith Ogaga read the committees’ progress report and requested the house for more time to table a comprehensive report for approval.
She noted that the executive failed to provide the total conditional grants, opening balance and list of pending bills in the budget estimates provided to them.
The chair cautioned members saying rushing the process could compromise their role as an assembly because the proposed 2019/20 budget contained evident errors.
“We want to ensure that we a pass a budget that is well-tuned and will allow the implementation of the various projects and allocations made including sorting out of the pending bill which has shot to over Sh2.3 billion," she said.
This was supported by most of the MCAs, who noted that before the budget is passed, the executive must give out clear information and documents to aid in the process.
They needed letters of proof for the conditional grants, opening balances amongst others.
Assembly majority leader Kenneth Odhiambo noted that it was important that the conditional grants are declared as to assist in the implementation of various meaningful projects and avoid duplications.
South East Nyakach MCA Johnson Gaya noterd that the budget process must take in the interest and needs of Kisumu residents and not the executive, adding that members showed not to allow themselves to used as rubberstamp.
His West Nyakach counterpart George Ogutu also supported the move, wondering why despite the assembly approving payments of contractors in the last financial year, some of them were yet to receive their pay till now.
Speaker Onyango Oloo ordered the executive Finance boss Nerry Achar to furnish the budget committee with the list of pending bills as at June 30th, 2019.
Oloo noted that this should comprise of detailed list of contractors, the projects undertaken the year of ward including the amounts to be paid.
Others include opening balances from the executive.
