Health, Agriculture get lion's share of Marsabit Sh9.1 billion budget

Health services have received the lion's share of Marsabit County's Sh9.1 billion budget estimate for the financial year 2024-2025.

The department has been allocated Sh2 billion, or about 22 per cent of the total budget, on which members of the public will share their views starting Wednesday. Of the amount, Sh1.7 billion has been allocated to recurrent expenditure and the rest to development.

A huge chunk of the department's Sh337 million development budget will go towards the completion and equipping of Sololo Level Four Hospital (Sh140 million), while the remaining amount will cater for initiatives including the construction of dispensaries, maternity wings, and rehabilitation of health centres.

The Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries department has been allocated the second largest budget of Sh1.19 billion and will spend 76 per cent of it on development, making it among the departments spending little on recurrent expenditure.

A similar trend has also been observed at the Department of Roads and Public Works, which will spend 77 per cent of its Sh577 million budget on development projects and programmes.

The County Assembly, the Finance and Economic Planning, and the Education departments followed in the third, fourth, and fifth positions with allocations of Sh912.9 million, Sh847.5 million, and Sh749.9 million, respectively.

The Finance and Economic Planning docket will spend 51 per cent of its budget on development, while the Assembly will spend 21 per cent, and the Education department, which also covers Youth and sports, will use 23.8 per cent.

The executive has been allocated Sh722 million, out of which Sh150 million will be spent on development, while the administration and ICT department has Sh612 million, with only Sh7 million going to development.

Water, Environment and Natural Resources, Energy, Lands and Urban Development and Trade, Tourism and Industry will get Sh596 million, Sh281.3 million, and Sh204 million, respectively.

Culture and Social Services has been allocated Sh205 million, while the County Public Service Board and offices of the County Attorney and the County Secretary received the least allocations of Sh125 million, Sh29.9 million, and Sh11 million, respectively.

The wage bill remains a challenge in the county, as only 36 per cent of the overall budget will go towards development.

Part of the budget will come from grants from donors such as Danida (Sh10.4 million for primary healthcare) and the World Bank Emergency Locust Response Project's Sh142.5 million.

The county intends to raise an annual domestic revenue of Sh110 million this year.

Meanwhile, County Assembly Budget Committee Chairperson Daud Tomasot has implored members of the public to turn up in large numbers for public participation in the financial document.

"It is by attending the sessions that they will be able to ascertain if their priorities have been put into consideration. We want them to share their views on areas of correction so that we have an inclusive budget," he said during an interview on Marsabit's Radio Jangwani FM station.

The Korr/Ngurnit MCA further asked the county to work hard towards attaining the revenue target of Sh110 million after failing to meet its Sh190 million target for the previous year.