Nairobi — The Council of Governors (CoG) has maintained its stand on the County Shareable Revenue where Governors want an increment from Sh370 billion to Sh425 billion.
Speaking during a press conference on Wednesday, CoG vice chairperson Ahmed Abdullahi (Wajir Governor) accused the National Treasury of failing to build a consensus with the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA).
"We express our discontent with the National Treasury's failure to build consensus on the county equitable share of revenue despite the objective recommendation issued by CRA. During the consultative meeting, the National Treasury did not form the basis for deviating from the recommendations by CRA," Abdullahi said.
"As such the Council reiterates its position of Sh425 billion as the county equitable share for the 2023-2024 financial year."
He further stated that from the Budget Policy Statements (BPS) for this financial year, the National Government has been allocated a huge amount of money even for functions that are devolved such as Health and Agriculture.
"The council is apprehensive that the continued allocation of funds christened for devolved functions to National government is an affront to devolution and the council shall not relent in its quest to make devolution work," he said.
After the press conference, the governors headed to Harambe Annex for the Intergovernmental Budget and Economic Council (IBEC) meeting chaired by Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.
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Governors are demanding Sh425 billion, an amount countered by the CRA which recommended Sh407 billion.
The National Treasury on its part said it can only increase the current amount of Sh370 billion to Sh380 billion.
The meeting is aimed at unlocking the standoff between the Governors and the National Treasury.
This comes just a week after another meeting chaired by DP Gachagua failed to bear fruits.
Following the disagreement, the DP said that the county Chiefs will soon meet with President William Ruto in Naivasha so as to discuss the way forward.
The meeting will also address the transfer of functions to counties.
The 19th Ordinary session of the IBEC also deliberated on the late disbursement to counties of Equitable Revenue Share from the National Treasury amounting to Sh 103,111,993,876.
On this, Gachagua said that the national government is committed to ensuring timely disbursements.
He said that a technical team from Treasury, the CoG, and the CRA was agreed upon to streamline any areas on shareable revenue for the 2023/24 FY and submit a report in a week's time.
The Controller of Budget Margret Nyakango who was also present also raised the issue of pending bills, with most being accrued from previous administrations.
Nairobi leads with the highest pending bill both eligible and ineligible.
