Governors through the Council of Governors Chairman, Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya have maintained that the government is broke should stop using lame excuses to refuse to release funds to counties.

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In a bid to challenge the National Treasury's decision to blacklist 35 counties for failing to pay pending bills, the governors have moved to court.

Speaking during a press release on Wednesday, Governor Oparanya stated that the decision by the national government not to release funds on time is a deliberate one and undermines the provisions of the law. 

"The decision of the national treasury not to release funds on time is in contravention of article 219 of the constitution of Kenya," Governor Oparanya read a statement. 

"Further section 17 subsection 6 of the public finance management act requires the National Treasury to disburse money to every county at the beginning of every month, by 15th of every month. The national treasury has deliberately failed to comply with this provision of the law, " he added.

The county chief insisted that they did not want to go back to where they were and wondered why the government had not put enough measures in place to ensure that that does not happen.

He further stated that that undermines devolution since counties could not offer services to the residents effectively.

"The delayed release of funds to counties undermines the principles of devolved governments which requires that county governments have reliable sources of revenue to enable them to govern and offer services effectively to wananchi," he stated.

Among the counties blacklisted by National Treasury on November over the pending bills include Narok, Nairobi, Machakos, Migori, Vihiga, Kirinyanga, Kiambu, Machakos, Isiolo, Tharaka Nthi, Nandi, Garissa, Tana River, Bomet, Mombasa and Baringo.