•Council of Governors chairman Wycliffe Oparanya said operations in the counties have grounded to a halt – literally – because of the biting cash crunch
•He urges Parliament to urgently resolve the dispute over the Division of Revenue Bill, 2019
The Council of Governors has implored Parliament to urgently resolve the long-standing stalemate over the crucial bill on county funds to alleviate pain in the devolved units.
Council chairman Wycliffe Oparanya said operations in the counties have grounded to a halt – literally.
In some counties, workers have downed tools demanding July salaries while in others, essential supplies have run out of stock. Poor patients have been the worst hit as most of county health facilities have run out of medicines.
“We must be alive to the consequences of this impasse. At the moment, county workers are on a go slow due to lack of supplies and payment of salaries. This has destabilised services across the country and we cannot ignore this call anymore,” he said.
The devolved units are facing a serious cash crisis occasioned by the prolonged standoff over the Division of Revenue Bill, 2019. The Bill provides allocates the money to counties and the national government.
While Senators want counties allocated Sh335 billion, their colleagues in the National Assembly have insisted on Sh316 billion. The stalemate is currently the subject of a by an 18-member team appointed from both houses.
Attempts by the Senate to convince the National Treasury to advance some money to the counties as parliament seeks answers to the impasse hit a snag after Attorney General Paul Kihara said such a move would be illegal.
In an advisory opinion, Kihara said there is no law to back such a transaction.
Oparanya said the counties are now at the mercy of the mediation team to resolve the impasse, warning that the devolved governments will basically shutdown if they do not get finds by the end of the month.
“We urge Parliament to resolve this matter urgently and allow restoration of normalcy and service delivery to Kenyans across the country,” he implored.
The lawmakers kicked off the mediation a wrong footing on Tuesday as they engaged in shouting match and table banging. The meeting ended acrimoniously as the members failed to agree. Talks resume on Wednesday.
Last week, National Assembly speaker Justin Muturi and his Senate counterpart Kenneth Lusaka hinted at recalling Parliament to amend the Public Finance Management Act allow counties access a percentage of the cash.
“We are going to ask the National Assembly to pass a vote on account so that funds can be made available to the counties. Why should projects and people in our counties suffer?” Muturi posed.