Council of governors chairperson, Anne Waiguru, on Friday, December 9, threatened to file a case against the Office of the Controller of Budget (OCOB) Margaret Nyakango on her demands to access county accounts.
Governors accused Nyakango of overstepping her mandate terming the move unconstitutional and unacceptable.
The governors stated that such a decision would circumvent the agreements between the counties and the Treasury.
“Extending such access to the OCOB is tantamount to overstepping and encroaching on the functions and mandate of the Office of the Auditor General.
“The outcome of such a system would be an introduction of unwarranted bureaucracies in financial expenditure for counties,” Waiguru lamented.
OCOB has been pushing to access the accounts. Their offer was originally turned down, with Nyakango lamenting that it hampered efforts to track expenditures.
County governments were at loggerheads with the budget office, with the devolved units being accused of manipulating payment requests approved by the CoB and failing to pay suppliers and contractors.
On Monday, December 5, the council called upon the National Treasury to expedite the disbursement of the monies owed to the 47 devolved units to ensure that service delivery is achieved.
They argued that the 47 County Governments were owed Ksh29.6 billion for October 2022 and Ksh31.45 billion for November 2022 allocations.
CoG also proposed a 15 per cent increase of the projected revenue growth in the FY 2023/24 and allocate a minimum of Ksh425 billion to counties.
The Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) had recommended Ksh407 billion in the FY 2023/24, which is a 10% increase from the current Ksh370 billion on the Vertical Sharing of Revenue.
CRA is expected to review the decision after new members assume office.
On Thursday, December 8, MPs approved the nomination of Fatuma Gedi, Benedict Muasya Mutiso, Jonas Vincent Kuko, Isabel Nyambura Waiyaki and Hadija Nganyi as CRA members. Others were George Midiwo and Wilfred Koitamet.
Source: kENYANS.CO.KE