We will not allow you to kill devolution under our watch – Senate stops RUTO from diverting millions from Counties Fund

 

Friday, May 19, 2023 – President William Ruto has suffered a severe blow in his bid to systematically kill devolution.

This is after the Senate rejected his bid to divert millions meant for the counties to something else.

The Senate Committee on Finance rejected a proposal by the National Treasury to revert and redirect Ksh425 million allocated to counties.

Speaking before the committee, Treasury Cabinet Secretary, Njuguna Ndung’u, argued that the amount allocated for library services across counties could be channeled elsewhere.

According to Ndung’u, library services were a devolved function, and therefore, the counties ought to source the resources from other avenues. 

“It cannot be concluded as part of the county allocation. We are looking at the County Allocation Bill 2023, which passed but omitted that objective.

“The only way for the National Treasury to give Sh425 million to 33 counties for the transfer of library services is to look for it without necessarily including it in the equitable shareable revenue to counties,” Ndung’u stated. 

However, the committee rejected the proposal stating that the revenue allocation had already been approved and it would seem like the government was reneging on a passed law. 

“You are asking the Senate to reduce shareable revenue from what you passed, and that will appear like the Kenya Kwanza government is denying county governments money,” the committee responded. 

This comes even as County Assembly members vowed to suspend sittings in the 47 counties if the National treasury failed to address delays in the disbursement.

They also demanded the reinstatement of plenary sitting allowances, which the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) scrapped in 2022.