Written By Vanessa Kariuki |
The National Treasury and Economic Planning PS Chris Kiptoo has guaranteed that the Treasury will meet its duties to pay county governments and National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NGCDF) allocations.
Kiptoo made this statement today when he appeared before the National Assembly Public Accounts Committee, which is in charge of monitoring the costs of all state ministries and agencies.
Hon. MP John Mbadi, the chair of the house committee, sought clarity from the PS on a number of issues related to the review of public expenditure accounts, including the status of the funds’ release.
Since June of last year, the National Treasury has only disbursed Sh214.6 billion in equitable share to county governments, with over Sh155 billion still outstanding two months before the end of the fiscal year.
The cash situation in devolved units may worsen as the National Treasury barely disbursed Sh31 billion as part of the January equitable share.
Treasury was set to release Sh125 billion to devolved units in January, with an outstanding balance of Sh94 billion, which will have an impact on service delivery.
The counties will get an additional Sh 10 billion in the fiscal year 2023/2024, a 4.2 percent increase from the current Sh 370 billion.
The national government has been given Sh 2.1 billion, with income collection expected at Sh 2.5 billion to allow seamless allocation.
Despite failed attempts by Azimio Senators to change the measure and boost the county allocation to Sh407B, the Division of Revenue measure was enacted without amendments in both the National Assembly and the Senate.
