The Council of Governors (CoG) claims that the 90-day wait for the distribution of cash to the devolved units is having a negative impact on operations and could force county governments to close if appropriate action is not taken.
CoG believes that the reduced shareable revenue as a result of the Finance Bill, 2024’s withdrawal—which it claims would have far-reaching implications—has further exacerbated the delay in the release of the cash.
The shareable of the venues would also be impacted by the Ksh. 380 billion that was previously granted by the National Assembly through the Supplementary Budget, according to Fernandes Barasa, Chairperson of the CoG Finance Committee.
The governor of Kericho, Eric Mutai, continued, saying: “Counties are frequently forced to have four-month-long arrears, and this year is no better than previous years.” This is a result of the fact that no administration since devolution has progressed to the necessary level.
The Council of Governors is being forced to warn of impending reduced operations and service delivery because to the outcry over the financial crunch.
“I’m calling on my colleagues to maximize Own Source Revenue as the only remedy, and we just want to warn the counties that it won’t be business as usual,” Barasa stated.
Since the beginning of devolution, counties have faced two main difficulties: first, there have been delays in the timely release of finances; second, successive administrations have shown little to no interest in fully delegating all powers.
