Civil society groups want Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich to resign, saying he is using his position to kill devolution.
The groups said Rotich and Parliament were using corruption to blackmail counties to deny them revenue. They said Parliament was crafting laws to arm-twist counties.
“We also note that Rotich has continuously failed this country in his duties and we fail to understand how he continues to enjoy the confidence of the presidency,” the Institute for Social Accountability national coordinator Wanjiru Gikonyo said.
Gikonyo was addressing devolution stakeholders at the Kenya Human Rights Commission offices in Nairobi.
She was accompanied by civil society groups and activists to address the media on the financial crisis facing counties. The call comes after Senate and the National Assembly failed to agree on how much counties should receive in the financial year 2019-20.
“We have lost confidence in the Jubilee government's ability to ensure effective implementation of devolution,” Gikonyo said.
The lobbies want Rotich, National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi and Majority Leader Aden Duale barred from negotiations to unlock the revenue allocation impasse.
The groups called on President Uhuru Kenyatta to restore confidence in his administration by taking over negotiations to protect millions of Kenyans from suffering due to lack of services.
“The CS, Speaker and Majority Leader are a liability to devolution. They are using all means at their disposal to arm-twist governors and kill devolution,” County Governance Watch's Kevin Osibo said.
The Constitution provides a framework for allocating funds to they devolved units, they said.
“Counties are being fought because of procurement and political reasons. Devolution leads to economic security and that is why those in power at the national level are fighting it,” Gikonyo said.
The groups defended counties on high recurrent expenditure saying they catered for teachers, nurses and county staff among other costs.
Kenya Human Right Commission project manager Diana Nyakairu said, “The corrupt must be prosecuted and proceeds recovered. I mean devolution and corruption are two different chapters in our Constitution.”
Edited by R.Wamochie
