Governors Storm Out of Ruto's Meeting

  • By Denis Mwangi on 24 June 2019 - 1:08 pm
    Deputy President William Ruto in his office Facebook

  • A meeting between Deputy President William Ruto and the Council of Governors on Monday was momentarily halted after the county bosses walked out in a huff. 

    The discussions were being held at Ruto's office in Karen where he supported the National Assembly's allocation of Ksh317 billion to the county governments. 

    The county bosses opposed the position taken by the DP and maintained their stand on the Senate's revised county allocations of Ksh336 billion. 

    The council's communication officer told Kenyans.co.ke that CoG was not impressed because the national government appeared to be crippling devolution.

    Deputy President William Ruto chairing a meeting with governors, the leadership of Parliament, CRA and Controller of Budget

    After the talks resumed Ruto urged Treasury, the National Assembly and Senate to resolve the standoff. "The National Treasury, National Assembly and Senate should move with speed to resolve the impasse on shareable revenue to the county governments. This will allow counties to allocate resources to priority projects that address wananchi needs and satisfy their concerns," he noted.

    A new meeting was scheduled for Wednesday that will focus on creating a harmonised Bill that will be introduced in Parliament. 

    The Division of Revenue Bill (DORA) has been a bone of contention in a fight that has spiraled into Ruto's office. 

    On June 18, the CoG had boycotted a meeting with the Intergovernmental Budget and Economic Council chaired by DP Ruto.

    The county CEOs later softened the stance and attended the meeting which resulted in the DP promising Ksh65 billion would be disbursed to help counties clear pending bills, but the county allocations deadlock was still unresolved.

    The DORA Bill is key because until it is passed by Parliament, the devolved units cannot access funds for the financial year 2019/20. 

    "This is to bring to your attention that county governments have no funds to perform any functions.

    "It is important that Kenyans understand that county governments will literally grind to a halt," read the CoG's statement addressed to Kenyans and members of the press on June 17. 

    Deputy President William Ruto conducting a meeting of the Intergovernmental Budget and Economic Council on June 18, 2019