Governors To Shut Down Counties In 14 Days In Demand To CS Mbadi

The Council of Governors has warned that county governments could be shut down within 14 days following the approval of the County Governments Additional Allocations Bill, 2025.

In a statement sent to newsrooms on Friday, March 21, the governors accused the national government of sabotaging devolution, arguing that the new bill would strip counties of Ksh38.4 billion in funding, which was earmarked for various development projects.

As a result, the county leaders cautioned that several programs would be forced to come to a halt due to the funding cuts.

"From this deduction, County Governments will lose a whooping Ksh38.4 billion of the Additional Allocations, of which Ksh24 billion are Conditional Grants from Donors to support critical County projects in healthcare, agriculture, fisheries, water, roads, slum upgrading and infrastructure development," read the statement in part.

"The other Ksh13 billion additional allocations from the National Government to fund jointly agreed ongoing projects such as industrial parks."

As a result, the Council of Governors (CoG) called for the reinstatement of the funds, warning that they would shut down county governments if their demands were not met—a move that would disrupt essential services for Kenyans.

Additionally, the council urged the National Treasury to release the pending county funds that had not been disbursed between January and March.

"We demand that the National Treasury immediately releases the County Equitable Share which is in arrears of 3 months amounting to Ksh78.03 Billion for the months of January, February and March," the governors added.

"As we conclude, we wish to reiterate that Devolution is here to stay. The People of Kenya can attest to the benefits of this system of governance. It is therefore our patriotic duty as a Country to protect our Constitution and its supremacy."

Governors have strongly criticized the delay in disbursing crucial funds to counties, blaming Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi for the setbacks. They have demanded the immediate release of the funds, arguing that the prolonged delays have severely hindered development projects across the regions.

“We have stalled projects for water, roads, and healthcare. Unless we truly do not care about what is happening in this country—especially since public complaints have consistently been about service delivery and stalled projects—we need to get serious,” former CoG Chair and Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru noted.

This comes as governors continue to protest budget cuts amounting to Ksh25 billion, which they claim will have a significant impact on donor-funded programs.

County leaders are pressing the Treasury for explanations regarding the reductions and are urging the Senate to reject the cuts and push for necessary revisions before finalizing the budget.

Among the grants affected by these cuts are the Financing Locally-Led Climate Action (FLLoCA) grant, the Food Systems Resilience Program (FSRP) grant, the National Agricultural Value Chain Development Project (NAVCDP) allocation, and the Water and Sanitation Development Project (WSDP) grant, among others.

Led by the CoG Chair and Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi, the governors have also raised concerns over the Roads Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF), a contentious issue between county governments and Members of Parliament.

Abdullahi stated that the only agreement reached with MPs was to exempt the RMLF from budget cuts, as the fund is currently the subject of an ongoing court case.

The governors maintain that counties should have access to the RMLF, as road construction falls under their mandate. Abdullahi further emphasized that the fuel levy, which finances road maintenance, should be fairly distributed between the national and county governments.