President William Ruto has directed both houses of Parliament to expedite the enactment of the Division of Revenue Bill (Dora) and the County Allocation of Revenue Bill (Cara) 2024 to ensure that county governments receive their funds on time.
This is part of the government's continued commitment to supporting devolution to ensure local governments effectively execute their mandates.
Speaking on the matter in Kisumu during the 4th Africa Sub-Sovereign Network Conference, Ruto emphasized that his administration has made a conscious decision to prioritize devolution, ensuring that resources are allocated efficiently and promptly to the counties.
"We have made a deliberate decision as a government to go out of our way to support devolution and guarantee the timely release of resources to the counties," he said.
Despite the absence of a formal framework, the government has sought an advisory from the Attorney General to allow for immediate support to counties while ensuring that constitutional requirements are met.
"Although there has not been a specific framework in place, we decided to seek an advisory from the Attorney General to enable us to support counties even as we fulfill other formalities and constitutional imperatives,” President Ruto explained.
The President further urged the leadership in Parliament to ensure that the Division of Revenue Bill (Dora) and the County Allocation of Revenue Bill (Cara) are passed without delay.
"I have also appealed to the leadership of Parliament not to go into recess until these two critical bills are enacted. We want to conclude this process to allow counties to execute their mandates without unnecessary roadblocks," he added.
Speaking alongside the President, Cabinet Secretary for Treasury, John Mbadi, underscored the government's commitment to fully supporting devolution, emphasizing that it was a shared priority.
"When you graciously offered me this position as CS, we had a meeting and mutually agreed that we must support devolution. Both of us have been advocates for devolution from our time in the opposition to now, in this broad-based government," CS Mbadi stated.
Mbadi further highlighted that despite challenges regarding the specific amount of funding to allocate to the counties, a consensus has been reached.
"Although we had some challenges regarding the exact amount to allocate to the counties, we have now settled on Sh 387 billion shillings, a figure that both houses of Parliament have agreed upon," he said.
The Treasury CS also reassured that counties have already received several disbursements, despite initial challenges posed by the legal framework.
"For this financial year, there were some delays due to legal hurdles, but we both agreed to seek the opinion of the Attorney General. Once we received that opinion on September 24, 2024, we transferred Sh32.76 billion to the counties for the month of July. On October 17, we transferred Sh30.8 billion for August, followed by another Sh32.7 billion for September on November 14, and less than a week later, Sh30.8 billion for October," Mbadi explained.
He clarified that, from the national government's perspective, there are no arrears for county governments.
However, he pointed out a critical issue that needs addressing, which is the role of the Controller of Budget in facilitating the timely release of funds to counties.
"There is something that still needs to be worked on, the Controller of Budget, and how that office can facilitate the smooth transfer of funds to the county governments. This should be tackled urgently, and I am confident that the Deputy President will take charge of addressing this issue," he said.
Mbadi added that their is a need for an urgent meeting to streamline the process and ensure that funds are consistently available for counties to meet their operational needs.
"We need to convene urgently to smoothen the process and ensure that the counties continue to receive their funding without delays," he said.
