Broke counties push for funds release
Hillary Mageka @hillarymageka
Cash-starved county governments could shut down again unless the National Treasury releases funds immediately, Council of Governors (CoG) chairman Wycliffe Oparanya said yesterday.
In a letter to the National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani, the Kakamega Governor regreted the late disbursement of equitable share of revenue to county governments for the Financial Year 2020/21.
To date, he said, devolved units have not received the September and October allocation as provided for in the Division of Revenue Act and County Allocation Revenue Act (Cara) as stipulated in the Cash Disbursement Schedule.
“To this end, county employees have not been paid salaries for the month of September and October.
The implementation of the development budget for Quarter Four is also lagging behind,” Oparanya said in a letter dated November 2.
He added: “Continued delayed disbursement will negatively affect budget implementation by devolved units.
You are aware that this affects clearance of pending bills and leads to a rise in industrial action due to late payment of salaries.”
Prompt response
The purpose of the letter, Oparanya said, sought urgent intervention of the CS to ensure no more delay in release of these funds.
“Your prompt response will facilitate county governments to ensure uninterrupted service delivery,” he held.
Last month after President Uhuru Kenyatta signed the County Allocation of Revenue Bill, 2020, it was expected that the devolved units would immediately start receiving Sh369.87 billion contained in the equitable share and conditional grants for Financial Year 2020/21.
Of the amount, Sh316.5 billion is Equitable Share and Sh13.73 billion conditional grants by the national government.
The Sh13.73 billion in government grants includes Sh6.21 billion for lease of the controversial medical equipment, and Sh4.33 billion for 11 Level Five hospitals.
Others include Sh9.43 billion from the Road Maintenance and Fuel Levy. Loans and grants from development partners’ account for Sh30.2 billion.
