- Members of Parliament have moved to fast-track the passage of a legislation to unlock the release of Sh43.82 billion grants for counties.
- The County Governments Additional Allocation Bill, 2022 has been introduced in Parliament for the second time.
Image: EZEKIEL AMING'A
Members of Parliament have moved to fast-track the passage of legislation to unlock the release of Sh43.82 billion grants for counties.
The County Governments Additional Allocation Bill, 2022 has been introduced in Parliament for the second time to save programmes and projects that were feared to be at risk of stalling.
It was re-introduced for first reading in the Senate on Tuesday and committed to the House’s Finance and Budget committee for public participation.
“The principal object of this bill is to make provisions for the transfer of conditional allocations from the national government’s share of revenue and from development partners to county governments,” the bill states.
On Wednesday, the committee chairman Ali Roba (Mandera) ordered the invitation of the National Treasury, Commission on Revenue Allocation and the Council of Governors to appear before the panel to express their views on the bill on Tuesday next week.
“We have invited all stakeholders because we want to fast-track this bill. The counties have not received these funds since the beginning of the year,” he said.
The bill was first introduced for first reading in the 12th Parliament but the life of the August House elapsed before it could be passed and signed into law by the President.
The bill provides a legal framework for the release of additional funding from the national, proceeds of loans and development partners to the 47 counties in the current financial year.
Governors have been pleading with Parliament to pass the bill, release the funds. They raised concerns that several programmes and projects funded by grants were a risk of stalling.
Initially, the funds were captured in the Division of Revenue Bill, which divides revenue generated nationally between the national and county governments.
However, the High Court, in a case filed by the Council of Governors, ruled that the funds be separated, adding that only an equitable share should be captured in the Division of Revenue Bill.
In the bill, some Sh5.6 billion have been allocated to the county governments for the construction of county headquarters and medical equipment leasing programme.
Some Sh454.0 million has been allocated to Tana River, Tharaka Nithi and Nyandarua that are yet to complete the construction of their headquarters.
Another Sh5.20 billion has been allocated to all the 47 devolved units for the managed equipment service programme.
The programme involves leasing of assorted medical equipment to select county and national hospitals.
They also allocates Sh13.47 billion to some 34 counties as equalisation funds. The allocation include Sh6.62 billion meant for 2021-22 and Sh6.85 billion for the 2022-23 financial year.
Despite a conditional requirement, the Treasury has been dragging its feet in releasing the funds to develop regions that were considered marginalised.
The bill also allocates the counties Sh23.70 billion from loans and development partners.
They include Sh3.56 billion from World Bank for National Agricultural and Rural Inclusive Growth Project and Sh1.99 billion also from the World Bank for Kenya Climate Smart Agriculture Project.
Some Sh119.99 million grant from European Union to fund Instruments for Devolution Advice and Support, Sh5.9 billion from World Bank for Water Sanitation Development Project and Sh667.0 million from Danida for Primary Health Care in the devolved units.
They counties have also been allocated Sh517.0 million from the World Bank to support the local efforts to combat climate change, Sh775.13 million from Sweden for Agricultural Development programme and Sh825.0 million from German for drought-resistant programmes in Northeastern.
The World Bank has also provided Sh1.19 billion for emergency locust response, Sh2.70 billion Kenya informal settlement improvement project and Sh5.43 billion for locally-led climate change programmes.