The council of governors in a meeting held Monday said the national government owes Sh94.35 billion to the counties.
This is after a continuously failed disbursement of county funds for the months of February, March, and April.
The council chairperson Anne Waiguru said the national government was supposed to disburse Sh31.45 billion to 47 counties in January, Sh29.6 billion and 33.3 billion for March and April respectively.
“The four months’ delay is unprecedented in the history of devolution and negates the spirit of the meeting held in Naivasha between His Excellency the President and the Governors,” the council said.
“We, therefore, call upon the CS National Treasury to immediately release the Sh94.35 billion owed to county governments without further delay.”
The council gave a 14-day ultimatum failure to which they vowed to shut down counties’ operations.
“We also notify the citizens of Kenya that due to the failure of the National Treasury to disburse the funds, county governments will not be able to deliver services as expected.”
Ruto and his deputy Rigathi Gachagua have been on record saying the country does not have enough money to fund the counties.
Besides, the head of the country insisted that he will not borrow the money, instead, he was implementing mechanisms to generate revenue from the nation.
The governors also expressed dissatisfaction with the manner in which the senate voted on the Division of Revenue Bill, 2023.
The senate rejected the amendment that would have seen the devolved units receive a Sh407 billion equitable share in the 2023/24 financial year.
Also, they proposed that the Ministry of Finance and National Treasury be separated.
