The Council of Governors has expressed satisfaction with the manner in which President William Ruto’s administration has dealt with the issue of disbursements to the counties.
The council’s chairperson Anne Waiguru, while addressing the opening session of the devolution conference in Uasin Gishu County, noted that under Ruto’s leadership, delay in the release of monies meant for devolved units is becoming a thing of the past.
“Your excellency, accept on behalf of my colleagues a sincere gratitude for the end-of-year disbursements, which were on time, for the first time in 10 years. For the first time in 10 years, we got our July disbursements for this financial year that we have started on time,” she said
Waiguru indicated that the governors are “quite pleasantly surprised” with the present state of affairs and expressed hope that a similar trend with continue going forward.
“I know we started off on a rough footing because of the disbursements and there was a time we as governors even threatened to shut down counties,” she said citing difficulties of service delivery occasioned by lack of funds in the counties to enable them to run their operations smoothly.
“At the time, we had been reminded of a proverb that says because all lizards lie of their tummies, you can never know which one has a stomachache. So, if we don’t shout you will assume all lizards are the same. We were trying to get your attention,” she explained
The Kirinyaga Governor lauded the head of state for offering a platform to consult governors over matters that are pertinent to counties such as allocations.
“You counseled us on better lessons to follow and you asked us to come and reason together which we have since been doing with you and your government,”
“The relationship has never been better. This has been the best last couple of months working together with the national governor and we truly thank you for the partnership and support,” noted Waiguru.
According to the COG Chair, the journey of devolved governments over the last 10 years is a story worth telling. She said there have been tremendous achievements made in all devolved spheres since the transition.
