Mombasa has proposed a Sh14.6 billion budget for 2019-2020. The current budget is Sh13.59 billion.
The county will prioritise health in line with the Big Four allocating Sh3.3 billion to the sector, the highest amount among all departments.
Finance and Economic Planning will be allocated Sh1.8 billion. TransportTransport, Infrastructure and Public Works department will get Sh1.5 billion.
Devolution and Public Service Administration will receive Sh1.3 billion, with the Environment, Solid Waste Management and Energy department getting Sh1.2 billion.
The Land, Housing and Physical Planning department will be allocated Sh568 million.
The figures were revealed on Thursday during a controversial public participation forum on the County Fiscal Strategy Paper in Tononoka Hall.
The CFSP identifies the county’s strategic priorities and policy goals that will guide preparation of the county’s 2019-2020 budget.
The county has come under sharp criticism from civil society organizations over the manner in which public participation was conducted.
The Mombasa Governance CSOs Network said the county erred in conducting the forum in one location only once.
“We regrettably note that today’s process falls short of the constitutional threshold for public participation. Holding one forum in a hall with a capacity of less than 500 people to represent a population of over 1.2 million is an absurdity,” Kituo cha Sheria’s Zedekiah Adika said.
Kwacha Africa programme officer on governance Johnston Kalama said the forums should be held at ward level so as to give people at the grassroots a chance to air their views.
“The way it has been done, many have been locked out. People in the outskirts of the county who cannot afford to travel to the CBD have been discriminated against,” Kalama said.
The CSOs said this is not the first time the county ignores views from the public by sidelining them.
There are two court cases against the county because of lack of proper public participation, he said. “The residents have only been recipients of decisions made by the county and are not part of the decision-making process,” Kalama said.
However, Agriculture executive committee member Hassan Mwamtoa, who chaired the forum on Thursday, said Mombasa laws allow the county to hold a public participation forum at one place.
He said subcounties are also able to collect views from the subcounty to the village level. “All those people have been coverered,” he said.