Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has reversed his statement that the national government had released Ksh.10 billion to counties to mitigate the effects of the ongoing El Nino rains.
Speaking in Mombasa on Tuesday while distributing relief food to families affected by floods, Gachagua said the state had released the funds to county governments to support flood victims.
He lashed out at Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir, accusing him of doing little to help families affected by the recent flooding in the coastal county, despite National Government assistance.
“We don’t want to see any Governor blaming the national government for not distributing food. As the Governor, you also have money,” said Gachagua.
The DP praised the counties of Mandera, Wajir, and Garissa for releasing funds to assist affected people, and challenged Nassir to do the same in Mombasa.
Governor Nassir and his Siaya counterpart James Orengo would later deny Gachagua’s claim that the government had released the funds. They challenged the DP to prove it.
A day later, Gachagua changed his tune, saying the counties should use the funds in their coffers to mitigate the effects of El Nino, as the national government will not release any funds to the counties.
Gachagua stated during a meeting with development partners at his Karen residence that funds from the national government will be channelled through county coordination teams, development partners, and humanitarian agencies.
“We are therefore a little bit shocked when we see governors complaining that they are yet to receive money for El Nino from the national government. Such money is not forthcoming. They are expected to use emergency money within their financial provision and to re-allocate money within their budget to intervene for the people that they govern,” Gachagua said.
He added that those complaining should borrow a leaf from the counties of Busia, Mandera, Wajir, Kwale and Marsabit, who are complementing what the national government and humanitarian agencies are doing.
“As a national government last week, we released Ksh2.4B as an initial injection into the effort and we will continue to inject more as we proceed on,” Gachagua said further.
The pronouncements has prompted a reaction from the Council of Governors, which has said counties have not received any funds from the national government.
“We take the position that such utterances are against the spirit of cooperative and collaborative Governments as envisioned under the provisions of Article 6(2) of the Constitution,” the COG said on Gachagua’s statement.
