Nairobi Governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko on Sunday hit out at National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale over his comments on the counties' usage of cess.
Speaking in Changamwe, Mombasa County during a Team Wanjiku rally, Sonko told Duale to read reports from the Controller of Budget on cess collected by county governments.
The County boss rejected the idea that counties had enough money to spend on development, saying that all the cess collected had been taken to the Treasury and not even a single cent had been spent.
"I would like to tell my friend Duale, today he's asking where the money we collect as cess revenue is going. I want to ask him to go and read the reports by the controller of budget. All cess revenue for the last financial year, 10.1 billion was taken to the Treasury. (Ningependa kuambia rafiki yangu Duale, leo anauliza magovernor ile pesa tunachukua kama cess inaenda wapi. Ninamwambia aende asome vitabu vya Controller of Budget. All cess revenue last financial year, 10.1 billion tumepeleka kwa Treasury), " the Nairobi governor said. (Video 2:33-2-54)
His sentiments came in the context of a widening rift between the central government and the county governments over the allocation of revenue to the counties.
Governors across the 47 counties contend that the money they receive from the central government is not proportional to the responsibilities that they have assumed.
They have filed a lawsuit in court, seeking an advisory opinion on the matter.