It is often neglected (sometimes intentionally), to make the amended budget public – and to report on it. During the financial year, amendments are made to the approved budget through supplementary budgets. Refer to section 135 of PFM Act.
Supplementary budgets are proposals by governments to move funds from one sector to another or from one vote head to another.
The funds are usually moved from dormant sectors and programs to emerging programs or priority programs.
A supplementary budget request can be submitted for up to 10 percent of the total budgeted expenditure for the year, unless the County Assembly has specifically approved a higher limit.
The money must be approved by the County Assembly within two months after it is used.
Once the approved budget is adjusted, it becomes the amended budget.
It is mostly the budget amendments which make it obvious that government entities have failed to reach their goals. So it is crucial for an analysis of how well a county spends its money to look at the ammended budgets and not be satisfied with the approved budgets. An analysis by the International Budget Partnership has shown – on the national Kenyan level – that it is mainly during the implementation of the budget that the state fails to meet legal provision of spending at least 30 percent of the budget for development. The funds alloted to infrastructure and roads are only partly used during the course of the financial year.
