Kitui Governor Julius Malombe and county council chairman Kevin Katisha denied reports that the county spends 75% of its revenue on salaries.
A report attributed to Budget Secretary Margaret Nyakang'o said Kitui collected Sh3.9 billion in revenue, spending 75 per cent on wage bills and only 25 per cent on development.
Speaking at the National Wage Bill Conference in Nairobi on Tuesday, Prime Minister Nyakang'o said that Kitui is spending 75 per cent of its wage bill, Kisii 74 per cent and Garissa 73 per cent against the 35 per cent granted. percent, Busia said it was 71 percent. percent, Nyamira was 71 percent.
However, in a statement to the media on Thursday, two Kitui County leaders said the highest expenditure on salaries and remuneration was 38%, far short of the 75% claimed by Mr Nyakang'o.
“You may have read newspaper reports or seen television news that Kitui County is the biggest spender of wage bills among all counties in Kenya. Nothing could be further from the truth. There is nothing,” the statement said.
According to them, Kitui's budget for 2023-24 is Sh14.2 billion, which includes staff salaries of Sh5.39 billion (38%), operation and maintenance costs of Sh3.8 billion (24%) and Sh5.3 billion (38%). %). percentage) for development.
“So far, the county government has spent Sh4 billion on the payment of staff salaries and remuneration against the approved budget of Sh14.2 billion for the 2023-2024 fiscal year, compared to a reported 75 per cent of the total budget. percent by the budget director,” the county manager said.
They maintained that the breakdown of county expenditure they presented was the true position on Kitui's wage bill. Other numbers published elsewhere are hearsay and do not reflect fact.
Additionally, both leaders fired people they called busybodies who they accused of spreading falsehoods on social media about the county's operations.
He accused the opposition of falsely claiming that a three-day consultative meeting between the Kitui Executive and the county council that concluded in Mutomo on Wednesday was a forum to misuse county funds.
