The Council of Governors (CoG) Chaired by H.E. Anne Waiguru held an extraordinary Council meeting on 2nd May 2023 at the COG offices to deliberate on among others, the status of disbursement of Counties’ equitable share of the revenue.
This meeting follows a Council meeting held on 24th April 2023 where Governors promised to shut down Counties should National Treasury fail to release funds owed to Counties within 14 days. To this end, the National Treasury has disbursed February 2023 allocations amounting to Ksh.31.45 billion.
Speaking during a press briefing after the 2nd May meeting, H.E. Anne Waiguru noted that the two parties had agreed on a strategy to ensure the release of all funds owed to Counties and the prompt disbursement of May and June allocations.
“It has been resolved that the March allocations will be disbursed by 15th May 2023 and April allocations by the end of May. The disbursements for May and June should be issued within the first two weeks of June to allow Counties to absorb these resources within the financial year,” added Governor Waiguru.
Cabinet Secretary National Treasury Prof. Njuguna Ndung’u, who was invited to the extraordinary Council meeting, expressed the commitment of the Treasury to ensure the timely disbursement of all County allocations as per the disbursement schedule.
The delayed disbursement of funds has jeopardized the operations in Counties, negatively affecting service delivery to Kenyans. It has resulted in a delayed settlement of pending bills, derailed implementation of development projects, hampered County emergency response measures, and has led to non-compliance of County Governments with regard to the timely payment of employees’ salaries and remittance of statutory deductions.
Further to the meeting’s agenda, Governors also discussed the current political situation in the country following the resumption of the weekly political protests. The Council notes with concern that the ongoing conflict between the two political divides continues to have a negative impact on counties. In this regard, the Council formed a ten-member committee comprising of the Council Executive Committee; H.E. Anne Waiguru, CoG Chairperson, H.E. Ahmed Abdullahi the Vice Chairperson, and H.E. Stephen Sang the Whip. Other Governors in the committee are; H.E. Kenneth Lusaka, H.E. Fatuma Achani; H.E. Mutahi Kahiga, H.E. Simba Arati, H.E. Joseph Ole Lenku, H.E. Wavinya Ndeti and H.E. Ochillo Ayacko.
The Committee will seek to engage all leaders in both political divides to address the issues affecting Kenyans and find amicable solutions to ensure stability in the country.