MCAs earning a fortune in sitting allowances Report

Some Members of County Assemblies are getting paid up to six times more than their peers in other counties, according to a new report.

The report released by the Controller of Budget reviewing expenditures between July and December last year has revealed just how pricy Marsabit County MCAs’ time is.

The county spends an average Sh179,000 on each of its 34 MCAs and speaker every month on sitting allowances.

Marsabit is not the only county that burst SRC’s recommended ceiling of Sh124,800 per month for sitting allowances.

Others include Homa Bay, Kakamega, Kericho, Kisii, Kisumu, Migori, Mombasa, Nyeri, Samburu, Trans Nzoia and West Pokot County Assemblies.

Nairobi takes the lead with Sh287 million spent on travelling allowances within the same duration, followed by Nakuru County with Sh197 million and Bungoma County, having spent Sh189 million.

County governments have been on the spot over ridiculous spending and questionable priorities over the past three years.

Last week the County Governemnt of Nandi came under pressure from the residents to explain how it arrived at the cost of constructing ECDE classrooms.

According to the residents, the cost of constructing a single classroom was inflated to Sh3 million.

It is alleged that the county constructed only one classroom without latrines and indicated in its final report that the project cost was Sh3M.

The residents, led by Isaac Kiptoo and Kipchoge Ngetich, are blaming the county of misusing public funds by inflating costs of projects.

“The classroom cannot accommodate all the 200 ECD going-children yet they claim the project cost Ksh 3 million,” said Ngetich.

Beside the ECD project concern, the locals have also accused the County Government of spending Ksh 350,000 in renovating a cattle dip, an amount they say was highly doctored.

According the residents, the costs indicated by the county government were unrealistic and unattainable.

Last year, the same county was put on the spot over refurbishment of Kapsabet Mortuary which was done at a cost of Sh4 million, but the executed work was approximated at Sh300,000.