Govt To Disburse County Funds Hours After Governors' 14-Day Deadline
Ndung'u further attributed the delay in disbursing the funds to low revenue collection and high public debt obligations.
admin
National Treasury Cabinet Secretary (CS), Njuguna Ndung'u, on Monday, April 24 announced that funds will be disbursed to counties in the last week of April, hours after the Council of Governors (CoG) issued a 14-day ultimatum before shutting down counties.
Speaking while appearing before the Senate Committee on County Public Investments and Special Funds, the CS specified that the funds will help in devolution.
Ndung'u further attributed the delay in disbursing the funds to low revenue collection and high public debt obligations.
Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury and Planning Prof. Njuguna Ndung'u appeared before National Assembly's Appointments Committee on Tuesday, October 18, 2022. /FILE
In addition, he affirmed that the Treasury was aiming for the reduction of outstanding county debts as well as the mobilisation of resources so that the funds are sent out on time.
"The Treasury will release February 2023's disbursements to counties, totalling Ksh31.45 billion, by the end of this week.
"Moreover, disbursements for March and April 2023 are set to be released in May 2023, while those for May and June will be issued in June of the same year," the CS stated.
Governors were however advised to nurture their revenue sources to help maintain the continuity of service delivery in times of delays in the disbursement of equitable funds.
Njuguna's announcement came hours after the COG, led by chairperson, Anne Waiguru, gave the government 14 days to disburse funds for February, March and April or they shut down counties.
The governors noted that the Treasury was yet to disburse a total of Ksh94.35 billion in an unprecedented four-month delay that also went against the meeting President William Ruto held with the county bosses in Naivasha, an amount broken down into Ksh31.45 billion for February, Ksh29.6 billion for March and Ksh22.2 billion for April.
“The Four-month delay is unprecedented in the history of devolution and negates the spirit of the meeting held in Naivasha between His Excellency The President and the Governors.
“We, therefore, call upon the CS National Treasury to immediately release the Ksh.94.35 billion owed to County Governments without any further delay. By dint of this, the Council of Governors hereby issues a 14 days' notice to shut down counties if February, March and April arrears are not released within two weeks,” read the statement in part.
The COG also warned Kenyans of disruptions in service delivery should the Treasury fail to deliver the funds within the stipulated deadline.
“We also notify the citizens of Kenya that due to the failure of the National Treasury to disburse the funds, County Governments will not be able to deliver services as expected,” the statement added.
The ultimatum followed a reported paralysis of operations in a majority of counties following the delayed disbursement of funds from the National Treasury.
Kakamega Governor Fernandes Barasa, who appeared before the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, on Thursday, April 6, claimed that the Treasury owed county governments about Ksh96 billion arrears accrued from January 2023.
Council of Governors during their media address on April 24, 2023. /TWITTER
