Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna, on Thursday, April 27, differed with his Kakamega counterpart, Boni Khalwale, over the roles of senators.
Sifuna lashed out at Khalwale, who, claimed that Kenya Kwanza senators who voted against the amendment of the Division of Revenue Bill acted in the interest of the nation.
Senators had sought to increase allocation to counties to Ksh405 billion. However, governors will only receive Ksh385 billion, an increase of Ksh15 billion rather than Ksh22 billion for the financial year 2023/24.
"Responsibility demanded that we balance between the national and county interests so that we can move on until the financial year because we inherited a huge public debt crisis from the handshake government," Khalwale claimed.
However, Sifuna countered the Kakamega Senator's argument stating that he had lost track of his constitutional obligation.
"The singular role of the Senate under Article 96 is to represent countries, not national good or political parties, and serve to protect interests of the counties and their governments," Sifuna argued.
Khalwale further alleged that no Bill was tabled in the Senate and that the Bill rejected was an amendment of a law on the division of revenue between the county and national government.
He explained that the Division of Revenue Bill would balance the national and county needs to allow both to remain functional.
"We will have a crisis if you completely refuse to acknowledge the debt crisis and fail to allow the national government to be in a position to address it," the Senate Majority Whip stated.
However, Sifuna called him out for misleading the public, stating that the Bill was forwarded to the Senate after approval by the National Assembly.
He added that the Senate Committee on Finance and Budget proposed the Ksh385 billion allocation be increased based on a report it received.
"The Commission proposed the figure of Ksh407 billion on Revenue Allocation (CRA), whose single role is to guide the senate on the objective criteria of allocation of resources," Sifuna argued, but Khalwalwe countered, claiming that the fate of the allocation was already sealed.
On April 27, President William Ruto signed the Division of Revenue Bill (2023) into law.
However, governors issued a 14-day ultimatum to the government to release the funds, warning that they would shut down counties if the delays continued.
In response to the threats, Treasury Cabinet Secretary (CS), Njuguna Ndung'u, on Monday, April 24, announced that funds would be released before May 2023.
