The National Treasury should release funds to counties in a single phase to avoid stalling of projects in the devolved units, Nominated Senator Janet Ongera has said.
Speaking at Nyamache when she officiated launching of a water project in Kisii, Ms Ongera said the current procedure of releasing funds in three phases was too hectic and made county governments to struggle to make an impact.
She said the move would see consistency in terms of development and would ease the pressure most county bosses were handling at the grassroots.
“I want to ask the treasury to start releasing funds to our county governments in a single phase. Most counties are unable to make an impact in terms of development because of financial constraints. Many projects end up stalling leading to a public outcry, something that we should do away with,” Ms Ongera said.
According to her, efforts by the Senate to have the money released in a single phase had hit the snag with treasury blaming ‘slow’ collection of taxes by the national government.
“We know taxes may be collected in a slow manner but the funds sent to counties are not even 20 per cent of our annual budget. We expect that the treasury implements the request that the Senate Finance Committee had written to them. That is the only way we can make devolution meaningful,” she said.
She also questioned the treasury for the amount owed by them to countries in previous financial years and challenged it to clear the dues in time.
“Even as much as I want money to be sent in a single phase, treasury knows well that a number of counties have never been cleared their dues for previous financial years. This is time to do it so that every governor tries to put the house in order before polls,” she added.