EMBU ASSEMBLY APPROVES KSH 7.7 BILLION COUNTY BUDGET
Embu Ward Representatives have approved a report of the Budget and Appropriations Committee on the Ksh 7.7 Billion County Budget Estimates for the 2023/2024 Financial Year.
In the report tabled by County Assembly Budget Chairman Mucangi Mwariama who is also the MCA for Kagaari North, the total resource basket was Kshs. 6,766,825,854 comprising of Kshs. 5,341,810,744 for Equitable Share of Revenue from National Government and a projected own source revenue target of Ksh 750M.
Also in the budget are conditional grants of Ksh 8,163,074 for Transfer of Library Services, Ksh 110.6M for Leasing of Medical Equipment, Ksh 69.6M for National Agricultural and Rural Inclusive Growth Project (NARIGP), Kshs. 250M for National Agricultural Value Chain Development Project (NAVCDP) and Ksh 3.4M for Agricultural Sector Development Support Programme (ASDSP) II.
Additionally, the County has will receive conditional grants of Ksh 13.8M for Primary Health Care in Devolved Context from the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), Ksh 106.4M for Emergency Locust Response Project (ELRP), Ksh 137M for Financing Locally Led Climate Action Program (FLLoCA), Ksh 14M for Aquaculture Business Development Project (ABDP) and Ksh 10M as Kenya Nutrition Support Grant
In total, Embu County’s resource basket is Kshs. 7,762,125,613 broken down as Ksh 3,802,806,389 for personnel emolument representing 49.99% of the total budget, Ksh 1,425,377,832 for Operations and Maintenance representing 18.36% of the total budget and Ksh 2,533,941,392 for development expenditure representing 32.64% of the total budget.
A total of Ksh 100M has been set aside for Murraming, grading, Bush clearing and re-shaping of the various feeder roads in the portfolio on Roads, Energy, transport and public Works in the twenty (20) wards. An addition of Ksh 150M for construction of Aggregation and Industrial Park has been factored on top of Ksh 100M allocated in the previous Fiscal Period.
For the Mbeere region, Ksh 14.5M has been allocated for purchase of a borehole of the drilling rig, with an extra Ksh 10M for the completion of Thura bridge connecting three wards namely; Kiambere, Mavuria and Muminji to ease transport between the three Wards. Ksh 28.5M has been allocated for drilling 25 new boreholes as well as repairing and equipping the existing ones.
The County Government will spend Ksh 10M to start a program to empower women through the Women Enterprise Fund in the portfolio on Youth, Gender, Sports, Culture and Social Services, while the youth will benefit from eight million shillings in the “Talanta Hela” program which will be implemented in collaboration with the National Government.
The county has also included Ksh 300M for payment of unremitted verified statutory and third-party salary deduction for its employees, which represents 51% of the outstanding pending bills declared, Ksh 48M Community Health Promoters stipend and Ksh 19M for completion of the Badea Wards at Embu Level Five Hospital.
Each of the 20 elective wards will benefit from Ksh 420M in Ward equalization projects, a kitty pushed by the elected MCAs to implement identified priority development projects in the respective areas they represent.
