Oparanya Uncovers how Uhuru's CS Lied in Broad Daylight

Council of Governors' chairman Wycliffe Oparanya has come out guns blazing to refute reports by acting Treasury CS Ukur Yattani that Ksh50 billion has been disbursed to the counties.

In a press release dated Wednesday, September 18, the Kakamega Governor stated that he was "shocked" by the reports by the acting CS that money had been disbursed to the devolved units.

"This is not true, as money can only be disbursed to the County Government once the County Allocation Revenue Act (CARA) is approved and disbursement schedule gazetted to facilitate approval of the withdraw through the office of the controller of budget," the document read.

Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya. He has called out the acting Treasury CS over misleading the public about releasing Ksh50 billion to the counties, stating that such funds have yet to reach the counties.

The COG chair indicated that up until the time when the statement was released, none of the 47 counties had received a single cent as alleged by the CS.

Oparanya, in the statement, also condemned the CS for putting the governors in a spot by creating the impression that they were unresponsive to the plight of the public.

"In the future, we urge the Acting CS for National Treasury to communicate information that is accurate and truthful to foster peace and tranquility," he stated.

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday, September 17, signed into law the Division of Revenue Bill, 2019 paving the way for the release of Ksh378.1 billion to counties.

The approval of the bill came after a long struggle between the National Assembly and the Senate over the amounts be allocated to counties in the current financial year.

The stalemate ended two weeks ago after the senators, led by Kipchumba Murkomen and James Orengo, agreed to settle for the Sh316 billion as approved by Parliament.

While signing the bill, Uhuru urged the county governments to come up with better systems of collecting and managing their revenue.

The statement signed by the Council of Governors head Wycliffe Oparanya. He urged Yattani to ensure clarity of communication in order to avoid demonizing governors in the eyes of the public.

Present during the signing of the bill was the acting Treasury CS Ukur Yattani, Devolution CS Eugene Wamalwa, Speaker of the National Assembly Justin Muturi, Attorney General Paul Kihara Kariuki and Treasury PS Julius Muia among others.

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