By Alloys Musyoka
Kwale health department gets lion’s share of Sh10.9 billion budget estimate 2023-2024
Kwale county government has allocated Sh2.9 billion lion share for the Department of Health in its 2023-2024 budget estimates of Sh10.9 billion.
The budget that was approved by the county assembly of Kwale last month has seen the county education fund kitty increase from Sh400 to Sh500 million.
Governor Fatuma Achani while reading the budget to the public said that her administration is focused on ensuring that Kwale residents get services.
She said that matters of health have been given priority to ensure that locals get desired services from the dispensary level to level four hospitals in the area.
“We are going to ensure that what we started in ten years during the first years of devolution is completed. We have facilities constructed like the Oncology centre that we have to employ people to work there,” she said.
Out of the Sh10.9 billion, the county is also expecting to get Sh720 million in mining royalties from the national government that has accumulated for several years since Base Titanium started mining after the Mining 2016 Act was passed in parliament.
Also funding from grants of Sh1.2 billion and own source revenue of Sh600 million has been budgeted for in the budget.
About 8.58 billion translating to 78.2 per cent of the total budget will be financed by equitable share revenue.
The Sh10.9 billion consists of a development expenditure of Sh4.4 billion translating to 40.2 per cent and a recurrent expenditure of Sh6.5 billion translating to 59.8 per cent.
Achani said that they have set aside Sh500 million for education which will see more students get scholarship support from the initial Sh400 million.
About Sh200 million has also been set aside for the county aggregated industrial park, Shimba Hills fruit processing plant Sh161 million while road constructions of Mkilo-Kalalan-Mavrivrini, Vinuni-Tiwi Sokoni and Mwangwei-Majoreni Sh140 million.
Bomas of Kwale will be constructed at Diani at Sh50 million, the centre will see visitors from all over the world have a taste of Kwale tradition and culture in many aspects including local food.
‘This is one place where anyone looking for local foods from any tribe will be able to get it and other things. It will be a one-stop shop for Kwale culture and tradition “said Governor Achani.
On matters of water, the county has set aside Sh100 million for the construction of two medium size dams in Mwereni and Mackinnon, water treatment facilities, storage and piping at Kasemeni and Samburu Chengoni ward projects.
Governor Achani said that her administration is committed to serving locals by ensuring projects that they proposed are implemented.
She was accompanied by finance executive committee member Bakari Sebe, chief officer finance Alex Oduko and environment CEC Neema Suya, among other chief officers and county officials
