Treasury has once again been put on spot with two county governors blaming it for alleged delay of funds meant for development at grassroots.
Kisii Governor James Ongwae and his Nyamira counterpart John Nyangarama on Monday evening took the Treasury head-on for what they termed as ‘intended sabotage’, making the two counties strain in finishing some of the projects they had launched.
According to Ongwae, the county has been majorly relying on taxes collected domestically with money from the national government delayed and sometimes carried forward to subsequent financial years.
“It has been one of the best starts but I think Treasury hasn’t really done well. For instance, they owe my county close to Sh1 billion meant for 2014/15 and they haven’t responded. We are now compelled to work on debts and sometimes I am unable to complete projects in time,” Ongwae said when addressing reporters.
Nyagarama on his part urged the Treasury to consider clearing debts owed to counties claiming Nyamira had accumulated debts from the national Treasury amounting close to Sh2 billion, making residents fault his administration on slow development.
“I think the Treasury is doing intended sabotage and this is unacceptable. They should always be quick in disbursing funds so that we are not blamed for underdevelopment. It’s wrong to put us on the camera on what we haven’t done yet we get little funding which is mostly delayed. It’s time that they clear all counties that are owed so that we complete projects,” he said.
The tow governors were also unanimous that the national government considers increasing the allocation to the county governments due to high demand by local residents from the devolved units.