Governors threaten shutdown of county operations over delayed billions

Governors on Monday threatened to shut down operations across counties over the delay by the National Treasury in releasing county funds.

The governors, through the Council of Governors (CoG), termed the delay unacceptable.

According to the governors, the National Treasury is yet to disburse Sh63.6 billion for October and November 2024 allocations. However, by December 2024, the 50 per cent will have been exhausted which means counties will not receive any disbursement from January 2025.

"We note with great concern the delays by the Controller of Budget to approve requisitions for the withdrawal of funds. This is unacceptable to an institution that is supposed to be facilitative. We call upon the Controller of

Budget to stop being a bottleneck to this process and ensure counties access their funds in a timely manner. We therefore call upon the Senate to expeditiously pass the County Allocation of Revenue Act to resolve this delay," the CoG said.

CoG Chairperson and Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi said the delay in disbursing the funds to the devolved units is a contravention of the law.

"We demand that the National Treasury immediately releases the funds owed to counties, failure to which, County Governments will have no choice but shut down operations completely," said Abdullahi.

Abdullahi who was flanked by fellow county chiefs after a meeting at the CoG offices in Nairobi said they have been closely monitoring the ongoing deliberations in Parliament over the Division of Revenue (Amendment) Bill 2024 and now wished to affirm and support the Senate for their decision to retain County Allocation at Sh400.117 billion.

"This will go a long way into the implementation of the devolved functions by the County Governments," said Abdullahi.

Council of Governors Chairperson Ahmed Abdullahi leads other governors in protesting against the delay of funds disbursement to counties from the National Treasury. They have threatened to shut down operations in the counties should the situation persist. (Photo: Justine Ondieki)

Bill assent

On the matter of the Division of Revenue (Amendment) Bill, 2024 (DORA) and Enactment of the County Allocation of Revenue Bill (CARB), the county chiefs said that more than five months into the Financial Year 2024/25, the County Allocation of Revenue Act has not been assented to despite the Bill being passed by both houses of Parliament.

"Due to these protracted deliberations county governments continue to bear the brunt as they are yet to receive their equitable allocation for the current financial year," the CoG said.

The governors wondered how on the the other hand, the National Government continues to receive its shareable revenue as the National Assembly passed the Supplementary Appropriations Act 2024.

"The Council takes great exception to the National Assembly’s decision to reduce the County Equitable Share by Sh20 billion. Any reduction to County Equitable Share will negatively affect service delivery and grind the

Counties to a halt considering that the allocated amount of Sh400. 117 billion is based on historical audited accounts," noted Abdullahi.

The county chiefs added that they hold the position that the Supplementary Appropriations Act 2024 based on the Division of Revenue Amendment Bill is un-procedural and unconstitutional as it is not based on the Division

of Revenue Act 2024 and the fact that the figures contained in the Bill that is currently before the mediation committee of Parliament goes against a Supreme Court Advisory Reference No. 3 of 2019 which stipulated that Parliament cannot pass an appropriation Bill before finalisation of the Division of Revenue Bill.

Abdullahi warned that such actions are not only an affront to Devolution but an overt attempt to weaken and undermine the devolved units.

They also raised the matter of the pending claims from NHIF and Social Health Authority (SHA) noting that it is hampering delivery of healthcare in public health facilities countrywide.

"We note that as of May 2024, the total outstanding debts owed to c0unty governments by the defunct NHIF was Sh12.9 billion. So far, only Sh3.8 Billion has been remitted and counties are currently owed Sh9.1 billion. We call upon the SHA to expedite the payment of pending claims under NHIF and SHA. This will allow for timely payment of our vendors as well as effective service provision for the patients," the governors said.