The Council of Governors (CoG) has raised the alarm over possible salary delays for county workers, citing challenges in the rollout of the government’s electronic procurement system (e-GP), which they say has affected county operations.
Speaking on Monday during the 28th Ordinary Session of the Intergovernmental Budget and Economic Council (IBEC) in Karen, Nairobi, CoG Chairman Ahmed Abdullahi said the system had disrupted operations and left counties struggling to meet critical obligations.
According to the governors, the e-procurement system has made it difficult to process payments on time, affecting service delivery and fueling pending bills.
Additionally, Abdullahi noted that counties are already facing resistance from key service providers such as fuel vendors who have suspended supplies due to delayed payments, creating a ripple effect on essential services.
''Our municipalities, if they do not get fuel for two days, all garbage ends up being dumped on the roads. It makes it difficult even to access those towns,'' Abdullahi warned.
He emphasised that while governors support automation and digitisation of financial systems, the current rollout of the e-GP has been poorly executed, forcing counties into unnecessary crises.
''We have no problem with automation. However, we feel that this e-GP thing will force you to reverse it along the road or be implemented with unnecessary pain. We feel that we have been pushed to the wall, that we are unable to operate,'' he said.
The CoG chairperson disclosed that some counties are already unable to process salary payments for their employees, warning that the standoff could trigger widespread strikes and paralyse county operations if urgent interventions are not made.
The push and pull on the system over the past two months saw the county bosses accuse the Treasury of sidelining them in the rollout of the digital procurement system and dismiss claims that they were deliberately blocking reforms.
They have pointed to persistent flaws in the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS), saying the same mistakes risk being repeated with the eGP.
On September 8, the High Court temporarily suspended the government’s directive requiring all state agencies and county governments to exclusively use the eGP system for procurement.
In orders issued by Justice Bahati Mwamuye, the court granted conservatory measures halting the enforcement of a circular issued by the National Treasury and the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA), which had made onboarding to the eGP system mandatory for all public entities.
