Governors have faulted Senators for passing the Division of Revenue Bill without amendments that would have guaranteed counties Sh407 billion of sharable revenue.
The legislators on Thursday last week passed the Division of Revenue Bill, 2023 without amendments and allocated counties Sh385 billion in the next financial year.
In a statement on Monday, governors led by their chair Anne Waiguru condemned the Senate for going against its mandate to defend devolution.
"We wish to convey our dissatisfaction with the manner in which the Senate voted on the Division of Revenue Bill, 2023, rejecting an amendment that would have seen the devolved units get Sh407 billion as equitable share in the FY2023/24," the statement reads in part.
During Thursday's vote, 25 legislators voted to pass the Bill without amendments, outnumbering Raila Odinga's allies who had pushed for an amendment to give counties Sh407 billion.
Waiguru urged the House to observe its legal role of representing counties and serving to protect devolution.
"We call upon the Senate to uphold their primary mandate that County Governments are well-resourced in order to perform their functions optimally," she said.
Meanwhile, the Council of Governors has threatened to shut services in counties unless the National Treasury releases arrears owed to the devolved units.
Waiguru lamented that counties have not received their allocations for four months.
"The Council of Governors hereby issues a 14 days notice to shut down counties if February, March and April arrears are not released within two weeks," she said.
As of April 24, the National Treasury had not disbursed Sh94.35 billion, she said.
