[Kisii Governor James Ongwae in a past event. He now wants the state to clear county bills. Photo/Nation]
Kisii County Governor James Ongwae has asked the national government to resolve the counties’ assets and liabilities crisis.
According to estimates by the council of governors, the liabilities held by the devolved units range between Sh 50 to 100 billion.
Some of these debts include salary arrears owed to former municipal council and local government authorities.
The governor who is the council of governors’ human resource chair, said the total liabilities held by the counties could not be settled by the counties.
“Our total liabilities are estimated at between Sh 50 and 100 b, posing a major challenge to our finances. This is a considerable sum that we cannot settle as devolved units in the light of our constrained budgets,” said the governor.
He was speaking in his office when he received a national government team from the Inter-governmental Committee on Devolution led by Ms Judith Atyang.
He said the debt crisis surrounding the counties had been compounded by the delay by the national government in allocating funds to the counties to settle the liabilities.
“Most county governments inherited these liabilities from the defunct local authorities. Resolving the issue will require consultations and a budgetary commitment by the national government,” said Mr Ongwae.
He expressed confidence in successful negotiations between the devolved units and national government on the matter, saying it was the only way forward in resolving it.
He said the main challenge for Kisii County in the asset listing process was land held by the local government and outstanding arrears owed to defunct local authority and municipal council staff.
On her part, Ms Atyang asked devolved units to ensure they comply with the state’s circular that requires them to submit the lists of total assets and liabilities by by June 30.
She said the process would involve the listing the assets and liabilities taken over by the county governments.
“We expect the county governments to abide by the deadline so that we can complete the process of identifying, evaluating and validating the assets and liabilities,” said Ms Atyang.
She said the government had identified nine categories of liabilities including salary arrears and statutory deductions in the asset listing process.
Mr Ongwae pledged to ensure that his administration complies with the set timelines for the process and asked the national government to factor the liabilities into the next fiscal year budget.
“We need the liabilities factored into the national budget as a certain way of ensuring the matter is conclusively resolved,” said Mr Ongwae.