Senate Speaker Ken Lusaka has expressed his regret concerning the delayed disbursement of funds to the County governments. County governments haven’t received their fund allocation for the financial year and in some Counties, operations and projects have been totally stalled. The Senate Speaker has said some projects are heavily affected when the County governments don’t have funds. Being a former Governor, Lusaka said the expectations of residents are normally high when a newly elected Governor starts his o her term, “People expect that they’ll see changes and I understand the pressure Governors are facing especially the new Governors who promised residents they’ll perform better than their predecessors,” said Lusaka.
The Council of Governors, led by chairman Josphat Nanok, has raised concerns about the disbursement of funds. They cite the apparent delay is due to a controversy between the Senate and the National Treasury on the schedule of disbursements contained in the County Revenue Allocation Act 2017 (CARA). The Senate sent a different schedule from the one contained in the Third Schedule of CARA and subsequently, the National Treasury has indicated that they will not release any funds unless the anomaly is rectified, and the CoG has threatened to take legal action.
Lusaka reiterated that there are sectors which are adversely affected when the County administration doesn’t have funds, “In the health sector, most County governments will want to purchase drugs and equip health facilities and dispensaries, and if you don’t have the funds then it becomes a big impediment,” he said, “Another sector is education, because ECDEs are also devolved.”