Governors have threatened to shut down if the National Treasury fails to pay county governments the Ksh. 102.6 billion owed to them by June 24, 2021.
This is according to Council of Governors (CoG) Chairman Martin Wambora, who chastised Treasury at a news conference on Monday for what he called a legal infringement.
Wambora, who is also the Governor of Embu, said Treasury had failed to distribute the funds, despite the fact that the financial year is coming to a conclusion in just two weeks.
He said that this is despite a requirement in the County Governments Cash Disbursement Schedule for Fiscal Year 2020/21, which was created by Treasury and authorized by Senate in accordance with the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act.
“The continued delay in disbursement is eroding gains made in devolved governance and affecting the economic growth in the counties. Treasury has not only failed to comply with the constitution but even with its own document- the Cash Disbursement Schedule, 2020,” said Governor Wambora.
As a result, the CoG Chairman stated that counties are unable to meet their statutory obligations and fiscal responsibilities, such as paying employees’ salaries, remitting employees’ statutory deductions, paying eligible pending bills from suppliers, implementing development projects, and responding to the COVI D-19 pandemic.
Governor Wambora indicated that if the monies are not distributed to the devolved units, counties will be unable to settle their pending bills totaling Ksh.11.5 billion, as mandated by Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani during his budget speech.
