APRM • SECOND COUNTRY REVIEW REPORT OF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA Budget Holdback by Parliament 358. A major challenge in some of the counties visited by the CRM is that it takes a long time before the annual budget is passed by parliament. The delay in budget approval, it is explained, was due to the misunderstanding between the executive (the Governor) and members of the county assemblies (parliament). A direct effect of this is the inability to fully utilize the approved budget at the end of the fiscal year. 4.5.3 Recommendations of the Panel 359. The Panel recommends the following: i) At the moment, emphasis on good public finance management tends to focus more on the national government. Huge financial resources are disbursed to the county governments. The counties are expected to spend in line with financial rules and regulations, and treasury circulars. Constant checking and verification of the financial records is obligatory. Accordingly, the Government needs to establish effective internal control mechanisms of PFM at the county level. A comprehensive study of the financial management of the counties is vital to identify the weaknesses to take corrective measures. (The National Treasury, and Ministry of Devolution and Planning) ii) The Government needs to address capacity constraints. Fiscal transparency requires that information on all aspects of the budget should be available to the public. A sizable proportion of the general public needs a clear understanding of budget issues because of the technical and highly specialised nature of the subject matter. Therefore, the Government needs to embark on fiscal literacy of the general public about budget and planning. Also, it is necessary for the Government to engage the media, community-based organisations and the civil society organisations to participate in the budget process since their roles can foster transparency and accountability in the use of public resources. (The National Treasury). iii) Devolution of functions requires that adequate revenue be allocated to the counties to carry out the functions they are assigned. In some of the consultative forums, the CRM was told that the devolution of health care services has some challenges. The counties do not have the financial resources to adequately provide health care services and that the matter should be revisited. Incessant strikes by health workers, arising from the non-payment of salaries, remain a big challenge in some counties. Given that devolution is still at infancy, a careful re-examination of the decentralisation of health care is desirable for effective service delivery (The National Treasury and Ministry of Devolution and Planning) iv) The procurement mechanisms of the national and county governments need to be comprehensively evaluated to inform policy decision (National Treasury and Ministry of Devolution and Planning). v) The consultation process needs to be strengthened. This is to ensure a buy-in by a significant segment of the society to guarantee ownership and acceptability of | 165 |