The County Budget Review and Outlook Paper (CBROP), is prepared in accordance with Public Finance Management Act, 2012. It is the fifth to be prepared by the County Government of Kitui under the devolved governance structure. It presents the actual fiscal performance of the FY 2017/2018, makes comparisons to the budget appropriations and highlight of the recent economic development and for the period under review. The report further provides an updated Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) financial forecasts and states how these projections deviated from estimates contained in the last County Fiscal Strategy Paper (CFSP) and actual budget for 2018/19 financial year (FY). The paper also shows how the actual performance at the local and national level in 2017/18 FY affected the County’s compliance with the fiscal responsibility principles and financial objectives as detailed in CFSP 2018.

The County Government in collaboration with the National Government is implementing a raft of strategies and reforms geared towards accelerated economic growth. The County has adopted program based budget as opposed to itemized budget which is executed through the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS), the system prescribed in law for public institutions to ensure prudent and accountable use of public resources.

The necessity to address the challenges facing Kitui citizens like food insecurity, healthcare and unemployment has led the county Government under the Leadership of Her Excellency the Governor honourable Charity Kaluki Ngilu to put in place a five pillar manifesto of Food and Water; Health Care, Education and Youth Development, Women Empowerment and Wealth Creation. Implementation of the manifesto has already started bearing fruits like bumper harvest of Ndengu (green grams), reforms instituted in the health sector to lay ground for the Universal Health Coverage and skills development among others.

This policy document also compares the performance of locally generated revenue and the receipts from the equitable share, grants and loans from the national government and the development partners between two financial years and it makes appropriate recommendations. The County Government is committed and will continue to improve the welfare of the residents through implementation of the five-pillar development manifesto.

Mary Nguli
CECM, County Treasury County Government of Kitui.