Kisumu Governor Anyang Nyong’o has faulted President William Ruto over his decision to have the counties bear the budget deficit following the withdrawal of the Finance Bill, 2024.
According to Nyong’o, the devolved units as it is currently are underfunded and the rejected bill should not be used as a gun to kill them.
He urged parliament to resist attempts to reduce the funds through the reintroduction of the Division of Revenue Bill to address the shortfall.
“This would be a travesty of justice on county governments whose share of revenue is based on the audited national accounts which are normally three years behind,” he said.
In a statement, Nyong’o wondered how the president could base the withdrawn finance bill on the Division of Revenue allocations which he said is calculated on a budget of three years ago.
“This is a clear testimony that counties are targeted by the national executive,” he stated.
An attempt to reduce the county allocations, he noted, is a direct attack on the existence and survival of the institution of the counties.
In his speech while rejecting the bill, the head of state called for expenditure cuts across all arms of government including counties to address the Sh346 billion shortfall.
“The reduction in expenditure, amounting to Sh346 billion, will be borne equitably by both levels of government: the national and county governments. With respect to the national government, the reduction will be borne by the executive, the legislature, the judiciary, and our constitutional commissions,” he said.
Counties were to get an enhanced equitable share of Sh400.1 billion in the Division of Revenue Bill signed into law on June 10.
This is a Sh14.6 billion rise, representing a 23.48 per cent increase from constitutional minimum threshold of 15 per cent.
During the 2023-24 Financial Year, counties got Sh385.4 billion equivalent to 23.03 percent of the last audited accounts.
The boost in funding is intended to enhance the provision of services by ensuring that the counties are adequately funded to perform their functions as espoused in the Fourth Schedule to the Constitution, Ruto said.
