The National Treasury Cabinet Secretary (CS), Njuguna Ndung'u, on Monday, April 24, announced that funds will be disbursed to counties in the last week of April 2023, hours after governors threatened to shut down services.
Speaking while appearing before the Senate Committee on County Public Investments and Special Funds, the CS emphasised that the funds will be released to aid devolution.
"The Treasury will release February 2023's disbursements to counties, totalling Ksh31.45 billion, by the end of this week.
Moreover, disbursements for March and April 2023 are set to be released in May 2023, while those for May and June will be issued in June of the same year," the CS stated.
The delay, according to the Treasury CS, was occasioned by low revenue collection and high public debt obligations.
He further affirmed that the Treasury was considering significantly reducing outstanding county debts and mobilising resources more efficiently to ensure timely funding.
Governors were further urged to nurture their revenue sources to help maintain the continuity of services during delays in the disbursement of equitable shares.
Njuguna's announcement came hours after Kirinyaga Governor and Chairperson of the Council of Governors (COG) Anne Waiguru issued a 14-day notice to the government over delayed funds to the counties.
"We also notify the citizens of Kenya that due to the failure of the National Treasury to disburse the funds, County Governments will not be able to deliver services as expected," she argued.
She also warned that governors would shut down counties if the government failed to disburse pending funds within two weeks.
"Treasury has not disbursed a total of Ksh94.35 billion. The COG calls upon the CS National Treasury to immediately release the amount owed to the County Governments without any further delay," the COG chairperson stated.
Waigiri argued that the delay was not in line with the Constitution and the Public Finance Management Act 2012, which calls for the timely disbursement of counties' equitable revenue share.
"The four-month delay is unprecedented in the history of devolution and negates the spirit of the meeting held in Naivasha between His Excellency The President and the Governors," Waiguru lamented.
