County Assemblies Forum wants the minimum shareable revenue to county government to be put at 45 per cent.
CAF said it will propose an increase of allocation to counties to the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) taskforce as it goes around the country to validate its report.
“From the 45 per cent counties will receive, we want about 30 per cent of that money to go to the wards,” CAF secretary general Kipkurui Chepkwony said.
Currently, the Constitution provides that at least 15 per cent be allocated to the devolved units. The national government is, however, at liberty to allocate more than 15 per cent of the national revenue to the counties.
The secretary general said the Senate should enact a law that will see the ward becoming the primary unit of allocating development funds.
“BBI should further ensure that county assemblies and its members are empowered, facilitated and their capacities built to ensure funds are used for the intended purposes,” he said.
Chepkwony made the remarks at a Nairobi hotel during a meeting of CAF North Eastern Cluster, which comprises of Garissa, Wajir, Nairobi and Mandera counties.
The meeting brought together MCAs from the four county assemblies and members of the CAF Executive Committee.
CAF is the coordinating body of the 47 County Assemblies whose primary mandate is to promote networking and synergy, coordinate intergovernmental relations and enhance good practice in legislative development.
Chepkwony announced that CAF North Rift Cluster will meet on Sunday 16, Western Cluster on February 17 while the South Rift Cluster will meet on February 21.
“After all the clusters meet, we will then adopt a raft of recommendations which will be presented to the BBI,” he said.
He also noted that CAF is currently registered under the Societies Act but is not recognised under devolution statues.
“This has denied it funding from the Consolidated Fund and diminished its visibility and image at the national level,” he explained.
He said they will also continue to petition for full financial autonomy of county assemblies without reliance on the executive.
“This is the only way within which we can ensure that the constitutionally provided mandate of oversight is effective to the MCAS,” he added.
