Another piece of communication has pit the office of President Uhuru Kenyatta and that of Deputy President William Ruto in a collision course.
The Standard, on Thursday, reported that the leaked letter, alleged to have come from the Presidency advising AG Paul Kihara on how to deal with the Division of Revenue Bill 2019 row, has sparked a furious exchange of words between top aides of the country's number one and two.
The controversial advisory, which is printed on ‘The Presidency’ letterhead and dated July 3, had attempted to address the division of revenue stalemate, with a plea to the AG to take a political approach to resolve the matter.
“The purpose of this note is to bring this matter to your attention and request withholding of gazetting of the said Warrant Authority and to urgently initiate a political process to have the Division of Revenue Bill and County Allocation of Revenue Bill enacted into law, so as to operationalise the funds…,” the note, signed by Justus Nyamunga, the Secretary Budget and Policy Strategy, reads.
A senior State House official told the local newspaper that the letter was forged.
“Nyamunga works in the DP’s office as an adviser. This letter is not genuine and does not represent views of the president,” a top State House aide declared.
To support his view that the letterhead was bogus, the State House insider explained that the office of Chief of Staff and that of the Head of Public Service were separated in January 2018 and official letterheads changed when Uhuru rearranged his administration.
Ruto's Director of Communications, Emmanuel Talam, denied that the communique came from the DP's office.
“That letter doesn’t originate from the DP’s office. Whoever is making the allegation must state the real agenda they are executing,” Talam told The Standard.
When contacted, the President’s Chief of Staff, Nzioka Waita, directed The Standard to take the concerns to Treasury CS Henry Rotich, saying he was the one directly handling the matter.
The Council of Governors has been up in arms over the delay in passing the Bill in question because, without it, they cannot access money from Treasury.
On July 16, Ruto, who is spearheading the talks to resolve the standoff, tweeted, "After another round of consultations with stakeholders, as instructed by the president, a new division of revenue bill will be published tomorrow (July 17), where the national government will forego some resources, to enhance shareable revenue to county governments."
