County governments have received a massive boost after President Uhuru Kenyatta signed into law the Division of Revenue Bill 2019, releasing funds to Counties after months of a tough lock down between the national government and Counties. The law provides for Kshs 316.5 billion as equitable share of national revenue, while Kshs 61.6 billion are conditional allocations to the Counties, bringing the total allocation to Kshs 378.1 billion.
Leaders who witnessed the signing of the Bill on Tuesday at State House included Devolution CS Eugene Wamalwa, Treasury CS Ukur Yattani, National assembly Speaker Justin Muturi, Attorney General Paul Kihara, Treasury PS Julius Muia among others. According to State House, the total allocation of Kshs 378.1 billion represents 36.46% of the audited and approved revenue of the national government for the financial year 2018/2019 against the Constitutional threshold of 15 percent.
President Uhuru Kenyatta has urged Counties to finalize their budget processes that should prioritize settlement of pending payments to suppliers such as KEMSA, in light of the government’s targeted Universal Healthcare Coverage programme. Kshs 50 billion has already been disbursed by the Treasury to Counties for the months of July and August.
Furthermore, the President also witnessed the swearing in of the new NYS Director General Matilda Sakwa. He expressed his confidence that she has what it takes to lead NYS to offer appropriate training to young Kenyans.