Vihiga county workers have been asked to brace for hard times with the finance department warning they might go without salaries for two months.
Finance executive Alfred Indeche said a case in a Kakamega court has delayed disbursement of funds to the county government.
“We have not been able to pay our staff as we have no cash at hand," Indeche said.
He said the county's own revenue collections were not enough to pay the salaries.
“Vihiga county as a whole fully depends on the national government because what we are collecting as internal revenue is not enough for us to depend on,” Indeche said.
The county employees are yet to receive their July salaries with the majority now concerned that in August they may face a similar challenge.
Some of the staff at the county said they were struggling to pay their bills.
Indeche who spoke in his office admitted that workers were yet to be paid their July salaries.
He said the county monthly wage bill stands at Sh178 million.
Last month, the county was allowed by the court to access 30 per cent of its budget.
Indeche said the process may take time.
“That will first need to be uploaded into the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) for confirmation by the Controller of Budget," he said.
The executive said they had done the process for the 30 per cent but the Controller of Budget asked the department to seek court certification of the documents intended for the disbursement of the cash.
"We have been forced to go back to Kakamega court to certify our papers then take them back to the Controller of Budget," Indeche said.
He said county staff had been notified via an internal memo on salary delays.
The standoff followed a case lodged by former county secretary Francis Ominde and activist James Simekha who moved to court to challenge the budget implementation, claiming it was not procedural.
Edited by P.O
