The Health Ministry and Office of the Governor Kitui County are the biggest beneficiary of Kitui County Budget for the financial year 2024/2025 unanimously approved by the County Assembly of Kitui on Wednesday , Channel 15 News can report.
In the Ksh 12.9 billion budget tabled and approved by Kitui County Assembly, the Health Ministry received the lion’s share of Ksh 3,852,172,162, representing 30% of the total budget. This is followed closely by the Office of the Governor with an allocation of Kshs 2,032,933,603. Other department with major allocations include the ministry of Education, Training and Skills Development at Kshs 1,043,425,266 and the County Assembly at Ksh. 1,100,630,000.
Kitui County Assembly Budget and Appropriations Committee Chair Hon. Zacchaeus Syengo while tabling the motion for adoption told the house that Kitui County government intends to spend Ksh 12,702,160,932 in the financial year 2024/2025.
‘‘Mr, Speaker Sir, the submitted budget for the FY 2024/2025 is proposed to be financed through the following;- Equitable share of Kshs. 10,990,205,956, Grants of Kshs. 1,111,954,976 while Our Own Source Revenue stands at kshs.600,000,000,” Said Hon. Syengo.
He however noted that following the approval of DORA which added Kshs 9B to the Counties, Kitui County Equitable share increased with Kshs.254,116,506, thus increasing Kitui County equitable share to Kshs. 11,244,322,462. In this view, the proposed resource envelope to finance County Budget Estimates 2024/25, has been recommended at Kshs. 12,956,277,438.
In the 2024/2025 financial year , the County government of Kitui will increase road widening and dozing works from 5kms to 10kms per ward, finance road grading from 40kms to 60kms per ward, and the CLIDP money has been increased from Kshs. 710 million to Kshs.750 million.
Hon. Syengo added that the said grants are as contained in the County Government Additional Allocation Bill (CGAAB), 2024 which he said is under consideration by the National Parliament. “It is important to note that, the actual grants will be ascertained once the subject Bill is approved”, stated Hon. Syengo.
Hon. Cate Kalenga, Vice Chairperson, County Budget and Appropriations Committee while seconding the motion, emphasized the responsiveness of the budget. “Mr. Speaker, this budget is for the people of Kitui and must respond to their needs’’, said Hon. Kalenga.
