SEPTEMBER 2015

5 Key Questions About Your County Annual Development Plan

1. What are the medium term priorities for the county in the Annual Development Plan
and are these linked to the CIDP? The ADP informs programme based budgets in the
counties which are prepared in a medium term (3-5 year) structure and the plans should
therefore have overall medium term priorities that the county aims to achieve in the period.
Because the ADP is a one-year plan that is drawn from the five year CIDP, the medium
term priorities in the ADP should draw on the CIDP. Where they reflect changes or
updates, these should be explained. In general, we need to see a logical flow from broad
strategies and priorities in the CIDP, to more detailed approaches to meeting those strategies
and priorities in the ADP and then the budget. In order for this to work, CIDP must be
broad enough to give guidance without going into all details, but details in ADP must be in
line with CIDP
2. Does the ADP show all government programmes with performance
indicators/targets? An ADP should show priorities organized under programmes in the
same format as the countys program budget. ADPs should not be prepared as long lists of
projects, but comprehensive documents, like budget, that capture which priority
programmes (including both recurrent and development spending) will be funded in the
county. This might include projects or recurrent items like employment of medical
specialists. The programmes should include a select set of performance indicators and targets
(not more than a few for any programme).
3. Does the ADP contain descriptions of major capital projects? An ADP should give
details of all capital projects including details of individual projects, location of the projects,
completion timelines and the proposed costs for the projects.
4. Does the ADP provide explanations for changes made in major programmes or
projects in the CIDP? Just as in the case of the broad strategies, ADPs may make changes
to programmes or projects in the CIDP. These changes may be informed by public input,
certain emergencies in the county, experiences of implementation, etc. Since the ADP is
prepared by the executive, the narratives should help the public and assemblies understand
how certain decisions were made.
5. Does the ADP contain an overall budget as well as estimated costs for major
programmes and projects? The PFMA requires ADPs to also have a summary budget for
the whole county, with rough allocations for each programme based on the priorities. This
means major items should include projected costs. We can think of the ADP as a mini
budget that comes early in the process and which should inform the decisions of the
assembly and the public as they work towards the sector ceilings.