The Office of the Auditor General should prioritize auditing of counties to secure higher allocations for the devolved units according to Institute of Public Finance CEO James Muraguri.

Under the Draft 2023 Budget Policy Statement, the equitable revenue share to counties is projected at Ksh 380 billion, which is a Ksh 10 billion increase from the current fiscal year.

The calculation of amount to be shared by the 47 counties is based on the last audited accounts by the devolved units.

Calculation for the shareable revenue for the next financial year for counties is based on the 2017/2018 figures, which are the last audited accounts.

The Institute of Public Finance believe that counties are getting a raw deal in allocation that could be corrected if the office of the Auditor General fast tracked the auditing process.

The draft 2023/2024 budget policy statement is based on a revenue projection of Ksh 2.6 trillion.

The National Treasury proposes to allocate Ksh 2.2 trillion to National Government, while Ksh 380 billion is to be shared out by the 47 counties as equitable revenue share.

The proposed shareable revenue to counties is equivalent to 26.8pc of the last audited accounts for the 2017/2018 financial year at Ksh 1.4 trillion.

In addition, the National Treasury proposes to allocate Ksh 776 million as additional allocations from the National Government share of revenue for construction of county headquarters.

The draft budget also proposes Ksh 7.5 billion as Equalization Fund to the marginalized areas and Ksh 32.9 billion as additional allocations from proceeds of loans and grants to support specific national policy objectives to be implemented by County Governments.

Further, the Draft 2023/2024 Budget Policy Statement indicates that Treasury is yet to disburse Ksh 29.6 billion owed to county governments in the 2021/2022 financial year due to financial constraints.