The Council of Governors (CoG) is urging the National Treasury to establish a new directorate dedicated solely to overseeing issues related to devolution and its finances. They accuse officials at the Treasury of prioritizing national matters and only addressing county issues when governors raise concerns.
CoG Vice Chairperson and Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdulahi states that issues affecting counties have consistently been sidelined. He has called on Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi to implement the request for the new directorate as a flagship project in his new role.
The strained relationship between the National Government and county governments regarding the disbursement of shareable revenue has been a recurring topic in nearly all discussions, as counties often go without resources for more than three months.
At times, governors have threatened a total shutdown in protest of delayed payments.
Just last week, the National Treasury released approximately Ksh. 32 billion, which is the amount owed to counties for the month of July.
The delayed disbursements, which were addressed during a meeting between governors and the Treasury CS in Naivasha, highlight the fact that counties are not a priority, indicating that urgent action is needed.
“Actually, one of the legacies you can leave us at Treasury, is to create a directorate of devolution or a directorate for dealing with county finances matters. Financing counties is one of the biggest responsibilities that the National Treasury has. I think we deserve to have a dedicated directory,” said the COG Vice Chair
Governor Ahmed also raised concerns about non-compliance with the constitution, emphasizing that funds for counties should be disbursed by the 15th of every month.
“There is no mechanism for a shilling that belongs to counties to remain untransferred by midnight on June 30th each year. The Constitution did not envision that. It does not provide for rolling over county funds from one year to another. Actually, the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act mandates that funds should be released by the 15th,” said Governor Abdulahi.
Treasury CS Mbadi assured that funds due to counties would be released on time to prevent disruptions to services.
“On disbursement of funds, I want to be very categorical; I have committed myself to make sure that funds are disbursed to the counties at the right time. This is because, the moment counties don’t receive monies, it is costly to the country because you are borrowing monies from commercial banks at highly inordinate rates to pay salaries……I have told my team at the Treasury not to keep counties money,” said CS Mbadi
Consequently, the CoG has taken issue with CS Mbadi over remarks he made regarding development funds lying unused in county accounts, accusing him of attempting to take the spotlight with incomplete information.
“We see situations where an entire quarter passes before counties have accessed any funds related to that quarter, and then you read in the newspapers that counties spend zero on development,” said the CoG Vice Chair.
“Waziri, tafadhali, don’t let them radicalize you against devolution. I say this because I saw the statement yesterday, and it is all over the newspapers today about the Ksh. 42 billion sitting in county accounts. I wish the controller were here. That money was disbursed towards the end of September because there was clarification on whether funds could be released to counties before KARA, and we met with Waziri,” remarked Abdulahi.
CS Mbadi has also promised to oversee the full devolution of functions still held at the national government, along with their associated costings.
