The standoff between the National Assembly and the Senate over revenue allocation Bill has paralyzed activities at counties, this is according to Council of Governors’ Chairperson Wycliffe Oparanya.
Speaking in Nakuru on Thursday during the ongoing Governors’ meeting, the COG chair noted that no funds have been channelled to the counties hence making it difficult for them to operate.
“As we speak now no money has been channelled to counties yet we are in the last week of July meaning systems will be paralyzed,” said Oparanya.
According to Governors, the delay in disbursement of funds to counties is a challenge that should be addressed. They admitted that the money that was last disbursed came late and ended up paying pending bills for staff as revenues collected by counties are only 5 per cent.
Meanwhile, the county bosses have opposed the proposal by Chief Justice David Maraga to have the standoff solved out of the court.
According to the COG Chair, the governors moved to the Supreme Court to have an interpretation of the law and advisory opinion.
He says the matters the Governors raised have to do with Constitution hence their move to the Supreme Court is in order.
“We have not moved to the Supreme Court to have more money but we are seeking an advisory opinion on several issues touching on the constitution which you cannot sit down and agree with anyone,” noted the Kakamega governor.
The circus surrounding the Division of Revenue Bill 2019 has continued even after the Senate debated and passed its own version in a record 40 minutes.
It settled on Sh335 billion as the equitable shareable revenue for counties in the 2019/20 financial year. However, even as the Senate passed the bill, the National Assembly was not left behind as a similar bill was introduced, with a proposal to allocate Sh316 billion as funds for counties.
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