State to decide share of county cash in Bill

Finance minister Njeru Githae wants the national government to unilaterally decide on how much money each of the 47 counties will get in the first full year after the next General Election.

In changes to the Public Financial Management Bill, which comes up for debate this morning, the minister also proposes that the money to the counties be doled out every three months.

The Treasury has set aside Sh148 billion in the next financial year for the counties.

The Constitution prescribes that at least 15 per cent of the revenues should end up in the devolved units.

Mr Githae’s amendment is just one of the hundreds that came from the Treasury to clean up the crucial Bill, which lays the foundation for fiscal and monetary discipline at both the national and county governments.

The minister is also pushing for the Deputy President to head the powerful 54-member team, which will decide on the budget policy, the borrowing at both national and county levels, and nearly any other matter that touches on revenues, expenditure and taxation.

The draft law as published, had put the Cabinet Secretary in charge of Finance at the helm of the Intergovernmental Budget and Economic Council, but the minister wants the Deputy President to drive the country’s economic agenda.

The Cabinet Secretaries in charge of the Treasury and Intergovernmental relations, representatives from the Parliamentary Service Commission, the Judicial Service Commission, the chairperson of the Commission for Revenue Allocation, the chiefs of county treasuries of all 47 counties, and the chairperson of the Council of County Governments are members.

Parameters that the committee of the Senate will use to review the Division of Revenue Bill have also been proposed by the minister.