NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 19 – The Council of Governors (COG) has faulted the national government for the delayed disbursement of funds to the devolved units.
In a joint statement, COG chairperson Anne Waiguru said the late wiring of funds is hampering the delivery of services in counties, including healthcare and flooding.
Waiguru revealed that the devolved units are three months late in receiving their equitable share of resources from the national government.
“The delay has also impeded the counties’ ability to respond effectively to emergencies such as ongoing floods across various parts of the country. Additionally, it has resulted in non-compliance by county governments with regard to timely payment of employees’ salaries and the remittance of statutory deductions,“ she said.
Now, 24 counties owe the state Sh17.48 billion for the month of November last year, while 47 counties owe Sh30.83 billion for December.
The national government has not also released remittances for January this year, which have been capped at Sh32.76 billion.
“In this regard, we call upon the national treasury to immediately release the Sh81.08 billion owed to county governments without any further undue delay,“ added Waiguru.
The COG has further rejected the Commission of Revenue Allocation’s proposal to have counties receive Sh398.14 billion in shareable revenue in the financial year 2023-2025.
It has instead proposed a minimum of Sh450 billion, attributing inflation to the Road Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF), which is projected to be allocated Sh10.52 billion.
CRA had last year recommended an increase in funding to counties to Sh407 billion, up from the current Sh385.4, a factor COG is opposed to, maintaining that it needs Sh450 billion to make its operations seamless.
