The Nairobi government could be forced to rely on its dwindling own-source revenue to carry out the remaining functions after the transfer of four critical roles to the national government.
In what could plunge the Governor Mike Sonko-led administration into a serious cash crunch, MPs want the entire Sh15.95 billion meant for the county from the exchequer channelled towards the implementation of the transferred functions.
The Members of the National Assembly approved the allocation in the Division of Revenue Bill, 2020 two weeks ago.
“The equitable share should, therefore, be set aside and arrangements put in place to ensure that the resources for the performance of the functions are transferred pursuant to Article 187 (2),” Budget committee chairman Kimani Ichung'wa (Kikuyu Town) said.
The proposed law, which divides revenues generated nationally between the national and county governments, is now in the Senate for consideration. It was introduced for first reading on Tuesday.
It allocated the 47 counties Sh316 .5 billion with Nairobi getting the lion's share.
Should the Senate approve the bill without amendments, the cash will be channelled to the newly created Nairobi Metropolitan Services headed by Major General Mohamed Badi.
This will send Nairobi into a serious cash trap as it will be forced to depend on own source collections to carry out the remaining 10 functions.
According to trends, the county has been missing revenue targets by about 30 per cent, on average, and thus has been relying on the allocations from the National Treasury to perform its roles and pay its staff.
In February, Sonko signed off four critical functions to the national government. They were health, transport, planning and development and public works and utility services.
Senate Finance and Budget committee chairman Isaac Mwaura said the allocation will be made to the Nairobi government before the cash is channelled to NMS Fund to perform the functions.
“Article 87 of the Constitution is clear that even if the functions have been transferred to the national government, the responsibility still remains under the county government,” he said.
He added, “However, the National Treasury has already gazetted a fund for purposes of NMS. So, we will first allocate the money to the county and then they can allocate to that [NMS] fund.”
The Fourth Schedule of the Constitution gives counties 14 functions to perform. However, the four transferred roles are the backbone and the biggest revenue earners for City Hall.
County health services encompass management of health facilities and pharmacies, promotion of primary healthcare, licensing and control of food vendors, veterinary services, cemeteries, funeral parlours and crematoria.
Public works include county roads, street lighting, traffic and parking, public road transport and ferries and harbours, excluding the regulation of international and national shipping.
The four roles taken over from Sonko’s administration are the backbone of any county. In Nairobi, they take a huge chunk of the budget and are the key revenue earners.
Planning and development services under the Finance and Planning department takes care of statistics, land survey and mapping, boundaries and fencing, housing and electricity, gas and energy regulation.
Edited by R.Wamochie
