Addressing the press on Friday, Raila pointed an accusing finger at the MPs saying they are to blame for the impasse.
Raila alleged the MPs are plotting a power grab by depriving counties of their ‘dues’ and instead allocating themselves funds for the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NGCDF) and Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF).
“These funds give MPs the power to conceive, implement projects, and oversight them at the same time,” he said.
He said having managed to entrench this anomaly, the lawmakers are now attempting to determine the amount of money counties get despite clear constitutional provisions on the revenue.
“Because they want to have their way with the abrogation of the constitution and getting their pound of flesh with regard to NGCDF, the Senate and the National Assembly are unable to agree on something the law is so clear on about sharing of the revenue between the National Government and the county governments,” he said.
The mediation followed after Senators amended the Division of Revenue Bill, 2024, to provide that counties get Sh400 billion instead of the Sh380 billion that the National Assembly had allocated.
The MPs, Raila said, should stick to their constitutional mandate and stop being contractors of projects that they should oversight.
“We have a situation where an MP himself is the contractor. There are several cases where the President is going to open a road and the MP is the contractor. This is shameful,” he said.
The 18-member Mediation Committee held its second meeting last Tuesday to try and unlock the deadlock over the funding dispute.
It is co-chaired by Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro and Mandera Senator Ali Roba.
During the first meeting on November 7, Nyoro informed members on how the National Assembly settled on Sh380 for the County Equitable Share for this Financial Year, in light of the austerity measures.
“Initially, we had a budget of Sh4.2 trillion but after what happened in July, we revised the figures and the revisions led to a downgrade in expenditure but also an upside in projected deficit,” said Nyoro.
He further emphasised the National Assembly’s support for devolution and the need for the Mediation Committee to find a balance that will cater for the general welfare of the country.
These sentiments were echoed by Roba, who noted that devolution has come of age hence the need to ensure that Counties are adequately funded to ensure seamless operations for the public good.
The committee met to examine several factors including the reasoning behind the reduction of the allocation to counties by Sh5 billion from last year’s funding, and also the basis for the projected shortfall of Sh346 billion in revenue.
It also reviewed the criteria used to determine the projections before deliberating on how much funding will ultimately be allocated to Counties.
The members also assessed historical revenue collection projections over the past decade by the national government along with county performance in collecting revenue from local sources.
The Division of Revenue (Amendment) Bill, 2024, which aims to revise the revenue-sharing formula between National and County governments due to lowered revenue forecasts for FY 2024/25 was introduced following the withdrawal of the Finance Bill, 2024.
