Governors, on Tuesday, June 6, lamented that they were being forced to spend Ksh33 billion in only one week before the 2023/24 budget is read.
This was after Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, on Monday, June 5, stated that counties would receive money for April and May 2023, starting Thursday, June 8.
Led by the Council of Governors (CoG) Finance Committee Chairperson, Fernandes Barasa, the county bosses remarked that they could not absorb all the cash since the 2022/2023 financial year would lapse on Thursday, June 15.
In lieu of that, they requested the National Treasury to give them more time to spend the hefty sum.
“One thing we agreed for absorption is that the National Treasury will extend the closure of Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) up to July 15, so that the counties can absorb the fund,” Barasa stated.
IFMIS is the primary account both National and County governments use to access funds.
Barasa warned that the money would be reverted to the government if the National Treasury did not heed the CoG's Request.
He further blamed the Controller of Budget (CoB), Margaret Nyakang’o, for the crisis. CoB, he argued, was yet to approve payment for some of the pending bills.
“The CoB should expedite all the approvals from the county so that money released can be absorbed,” he explained.
Gachagua, during the 20th Session of the Intergovernmental Budget and Economic Council (IBEC), had warned counties against paying unapproved pending bills.
“The IBEC meeting has defined the pending bills as valid invoices validly delivered and outstanding at the end of the financial year.
“In respect to that, we have agreed that no pending bill should be paid without first interrogating its authenticity,” he warned.
The DP further stated that any governor making irregular payments would be held accountable for misusing the taxpayer's money.
As of March 2023, county governments had amassed pending bills amounting to Ksh157 billion. Since then, the devolved units have not received any money from the national government to clear some of their outstanding debts.
