Governors have threatened to shut down counties in 30 days if the two houses of Parliament fail to agree on cash to be disbursed to devolved units.
The county chiefs threatened to halt operations in all 47 counties after a council meeting on Monday, November 18, to discuss several bills including the Division of Revenue Amendment Bill 2024 and the County Allocation Bill.
In a statement, the governors lamented over delays in the release of equitable allocation five months into the new financial year while the National government continued to receive its shareable revenue.
"The County Allocation of Revenue Act has not been assented to, despite the bill being passed by both houses in Parliament," a statement from the CoG chair Ahmed Abdullahi read.
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.
Further, governors also took aim at the National Assembly's move to reduce the county's equitable share costs by Ksh 20 billion - a move which they claim will negatively impact ordinary Kenyans directly.
In September 2024, the National Treasury disbursed Ksh 32.8 billion to counties after clearing a legal issue. This was the first disbursement of the financial year which, according to the CoG, is a far cry from the figure that the 47 counties need to run efficiently.
"The National Treasury is yet to disburse Ksh 63.6 Billion for October and November 2024 allocations," the statement went on.
"However, by December 2024, the 50% will have been exhausted which means Counties will not receive any disbursement from January 2025."
The governors also want the government to expedite the payment of NHIF debts owed to hospitals across the country. According to the county chiefs, counties are still owed KSh 9.1 billion after KSh 3.8 billion was remitted.
Amid the ongoing budgetary woes, the Council of Governors claims devolution is under threat since counties are unable to conduct their mandate as a result of the cash crunch.
Notably, the withdrawal of the 2024 Finance Bill, which led to the reintroduction of the County Allocation of Revenue Bill and the Division of Revenue Bill proved to be a huge barrier to the disbursement of funds, as it effectively led to issues with the allocation of financial resources in the counties, and subsequently affected public workers' salaries.
The Treasury was advised by the Attorney General's office to begin the disbursements, which allowed for up to 50 per cent of the previously approved county funding framework.
Notably, the county chiefs issued a similar threat in 2023, with their primary concern at the time revolving around delays in the disbursement of counties’ equitable share by the National Treasury.
