Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr Fred Matiang'i continues to be subjected to criticism following his order to counties over pending bills.
Early this week, a furious Matiang'i threatened to take governors head-on over delayed payment of pending bills.
The interior boss argued that Treasury had released billions to counties thus there was no reason to keep supplies Waiting.
However, the Council of Governors chair Wycliffe Oparanya on Friday said the directive was issued in bad faith, adding that Matiang'i has overstepped his mandate.
The Kakamega Governor insisted that those purportedly owed by the county ought to be verified first before any payment is done.
“Stop playing politics with Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and clear pending bills. Going forward, disbursements to counties will be based on progress made in settling pending bills as refusal by governors to clear pending bills is hurting the economy,” he said.
“The auditing has to be carried out first to establish eligible and genuine bills and illegible pending bills. Majority of the bills are not eligible to process payments due to disputes or lack of proper documentation that can aid in making payments,” added Oparanya.
Treasury insisted that Equitable share will only be released to counties that had implemented payment of pending bills.
President Uhuru Kenyatta has been pushing for payment of the bills, arguing that the economy has been largely affected due to delayed payments.