Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya has slammed the National Treasury over the delayed disbursement of funds to the county governments, which he has termed as unconstitutional.
Speaking during a press briefing on Tuesday, April 30, the Governor claimed that the treasury, led by the Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi, should ensure swift disbursement of funds to the devolved units in the same way it does to the national government.
According to Natembeya, the county governments have only received two rounds of disbursement meant for this year, instead of four.
"There is a lot of delay in disbursing funds to the county governments, and according to the government's financial calendar, there should be no other commitments. As of now, we are starting to receive funds that were meant for the second month," he said.
"The Treasury is breaking the law because every month it should disburse the money to county governments before the fifteenth, but we are receiving funds meant for February this month," he stated.
According to Natembeya, the delay has significantly dented the county government's ability to pay workers and also take care of other critical sectors, such as health, a situation that has forced them to look for other unsustainable options, such as borrowing from banks.
"It has now forced countries to go and borrow money from the banks and pay interest rates that are not in the budget, and you find that we are unable to provide good service to the government," he stated.
Natembeya's statement comes a month after the Kericho senator, Aaron Cheruiyot, claimed that counties are mishandling funds and warned that the Parliament will take action against governors who waste their resources.
The Senator, who is the Senate's Majority leader, claimed that governors have been spending most of their funds on salaries more than on other critical development projects, which contravenes the law.
Cheruiyot, who spoke during a public event on Saturday, March 30, noted that the Parliament intends to pass a law that will restrict funds to counties that remain reluctant to fabricate a clear blueprint on how they will balance development projects and pay salaries.
"Many county governments have now turned away from serving the common citizen and are only focused on hiring people. In the PFM law, our county governments are not supposed to use more than 35 per cent to pay salaries, but some counties are using more than 50 per cent of the resources to pay the salaries," he said.
"And I want to emphasise that we will pass a law soon that will see governors who are only focusing on salaries alone; we will stop the money you are getting until we see that you are doing 65 per cent of development works and 35 per cent on salaries," he said.
