County assemblies are finally on the verge of enjoying financial autonomy after a decade-long battle and push by the MCAs.
President William Ruto and the Senate, led by speaker Amason Kingi, have backed their bid to end reliance on their executives for finances.
Last week, the head of state pledged to lobby his troops in Parliament to amend the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act, 2012, to enable them get their funds directly from the Treasury.
“That is an aspiration and a concept that I share, and we will work with the necessary stakeholders and institutions to make sure that the Senate provides the framework for the independence of our county assemblies so that they can have their independent votes,” Ruto said.
The President spoke during the 8th devolution conference in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu county, last week.
Already, Senate Deputy Speaker Kathure Murungi has drafted an amendment bill to the law, to give the assemblies financial independence.
Currently, the law provides that the Finance executives shall appoint signatories to county assemblies’ accounts, something that has put them at loggerheads with executives.
The assemblies must get approval from the executive when placing requisition for funds to the Controller of Budget.
Often, the county executives sit on or divert funds meant for the assemblies, triggering serious fights between the two arms of the county governments.
The MCAs have often argued that besides the delayed released, they have been forced to be at the mercy of the executive, the entity which they are mandated to oversight, for funds.
“You cannot be given money by the same person that you want to oversight. We have been forced to beg the executive to give us the money because Finance CEC must sign everything including monies of salaries and allowances,” the assemblies, had said through their forum (County Assemblies Forum).
They held that the current arrangement gives the governors and the finance executives more control over funds disbursed to counties, and by-extension, control over county assembly budgets.
The forum implored the Parliament to pass legislation to allow them access funds to implement development in their wards.
Speaking at the closure of the devolution conference, Kingi said the Senate will pass the bill to free the assemblies from shackle that grossly undermines their mandate, especially oversight.
“This proposed legislation seeks to cure the mischief that for years has left county assemblies ensnared by the whims of the county treasuries, as they seek money to defray their administrative expenses,” he said.
The speaker added, “When the bill becomes law, county assemblies will not have to go through County Executive Committees to do their requisition, as is presently the case.”
The County Government Act provides that county assemblies budget shall not be lower than seven per cent of the county’s total revenue or twice personnel emolument whichever is lower.
“The county assemblies just like the Senate play the primary oversight role at the lowest level,” Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei said.
We are aware that county governments and governors are normally not comfortable with independent and functional county assemblies,” he added.
