Pressure is still being mounted on the Treasury to release funds meant for the country’s devolved units. Speaking at Mwamba, in his Lugari Constituency during a women welfare fund-drive, Lugari MP Ayub Savula said the country’s economic growth is being halted by the national government’s move to continue holding on to the funds citing unsettled pending bills owed to contractors and suppliers.
By close of business Wednesday, the acting National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yattani in a circular said a total of Kshs 11 billion had been released to 18 Counties which had presented clear and acceptable plans for settlement of validated pending bills, hence throwing a spanner into the works for the Counties that had not presented their payment plan.
Savula assured Council of Governors chair who is also the Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya that as members of parliament, they will support the Counties in their quest to have funds released by the National Treasury to advance their development agenda.
Elsewhere, Savula reiterated his support for a people centered implementation of the recently launched Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) report. He called on the constituents to keenly go through the report and objectively make a decision on how they would want to be governed.
Savula said he is objected to a proposal by a section of legislators calling for the implementation of the report through parliament.
He, however, congratulated the committee’s proposal to have devolved units receive up to 35% of funds from the Treasury, a move he said will skyrocket development at the grass-root level.