County Assemblies in the 47 counties have been issued with an ultimatum by the cabinet to approve finance bills immediately.
In a despatch released by State House on February 14, the cabinet ordered county assemblies to approve the Finance Bills that they legislate with immediate effect instead of waiting for the 90-day window as is currently applied.
The cabinet approved the proposed amendments to the Public Finance Management Act which were previously passed by the Parliament.
These amendments sought to change a section in the Act which stated that a county-level Finance Bill should be passed within three months after the Appropriation Bill's approval.
While approving the amendments, the Cabinet noted that the three-month time gap led to an accumulation of pending bills and other financial lapses within county governments.
“Under the current legal framework, a county-level Finance Bill is passed within three months after the Appropriation Bill's approval, a time gap that leads to accumulation of pending bills and other financial lapses,” read the communique in part.
“These amendments aim to cure this problem by requiring that the county budget estimates, county finance bills, and other bills necessary for implementing county budgets be considered and approved at the same time,” confirmed the Cabinet.
County assemblies which have in the past been faulted for failing to pay pending bills on time, have often attributed the delays to lack of funds.
However, with the new amendments, county governments will be required to pass the bills as soon they are appropriated.
Additionally, during the meeting, cabinet directed the payment of school fees for all universities and schools to be channeled through the eCitizen platform.
Further the cabinet also approved the privatisation of the Development Bank of Kenya and hotels such as those under the safari lodges banner among others.
The cabinet’s meeting also agreed to accord Kelvin Kiptum, the world record holder a State funeral.
