Senator Sifuna blasts National Assembly over county budget cuts

Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna has raised concerns over what he described as unfair budget reductions by the National Assembly, accusing it of undermining the principle of devolution.

Speaking in a lively Senate debate on Thursday, over the Division of Revenue Bill, Sifuna said the cuts were punitive measures aimed at forcing county governments to comply with decisions they had not agreed to.

He argued that governors and county officials are often pressured to accept reductions without clear explanations.

“That is the conversation we want to have, because for us, Honourable Speaker, who believe in devolution, we see a situation where the National Assembly, most of the time, is blackmailing governors and county governments into accepting things,” Sifuna said, pointing to what he called a recurring pattern of coercion.

Sifuna challenged the National Assembly Finance Committee to justify its decisions and provide clarity on why the cuts were necessary.

“I know what some people are trying to tell us here, that we should not question, for whatever reason, the decisions that the Committee on Finance reaches. But the Committee has a responsibility to explain to us what the National Assembly's rationale for those reductions was,” he said.

He cited specific examples where county headquarters in five marginalised counties saw their allocations reduced.

These included Isiolo, Lamu, Nyandarua, Tana River, and Tharaka Nithi, with reductions of just one million shillings per county.

“When you look at the amount of money that has been passed by this House regarding the county headquarters for the five counties, if you look at that schedule on page 15 of the report, the National Assembly basically just removed one million shillings from each county,” Sifuna pointed out.

Describing the cuts as senseless and politically motivated, Sifuna said they appeared to be a show of power.

“At the very minimum, you know this just looks like a very arbitrary action, or just to me, Honourable Speaker, a flexing of muscles, that the National Assembly can show the Senate that they can do these things,” he said.

He demanded that the committee explain the logic behind reducing Isiolo’s allocation from 60 million to 59 million.

“What is the rationale? The committee should explain to me the scientific reason behind moving the allocation for Isiolo from 60 million to 59 million. What is the rationale?”

Sifuna also referenced a High Court ruling that declared the removal of funds from county allocations unconstitutional.

“What Senator Eddy Oketch has failed to mention to you is that the High Court… has already declared the removal of sums of money to do with RMLA from the county governments unconstitutional,” he reminded the Senate.

Other Topics To Read

• Headlines
• National
• Committee on Revenue Allocation
• Division of Revenue Bill
• County Revenue Fund
• counties revenue share
• Senator Sifuna blasts National Assembly over county budget cuts
• News