Counties still waiting for development funds, says Embu Governor Wambora

Counties are yet to receive development funds for 2016/2017 financial year, Embu Governor Martin Wambora has said.

Mr Wambora said the county governments had only received money for payment of salaries.

Speaking to the Nation in his office in Embu Town on Thursday, Mr Wambora said the lack of funds had stalled projects in the counties.

"Up to now we have not received any money for development. We only have money for salaries," Mr Wambora said.

He added: "We can only use the money we get from the national Treasury and what we collect locally."

On August 9, Council of Governors Chairman Peter Munya said National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich had released Sh150 billion for counties for this financial year despite failure by the Senate to approve it.

Mr Munya said although the Senate had failed to approve the schedule for the disbursement of cash to counties, the law allows the CS to release 50 per cent of the money.

Counties on Tuesday breathed a sigh of relief after the Treasury released the first batch of money for their operations for the current financial year.

CS ROTICH AUTHORISED SPENDING

“The CS has authorised spending for this quarter. Counties can now access up to 50 per cent of the Sh302 billion,” Mr Munya said.

The Council of Governors had criticised the Senate for failing to approve the schedule for disbursing the cash.

The earliest the House can approve the schedule, which determines how much money each county gets, would be mid-September when senators resume sittings from recess.

Mr Munya said following the release of the funds, counties would now be able to pay salaries and other services following the disbursements.

But Mr Wambora said the delays in the release of the funds had affected operations in the counties.

He said most of the money in Embu goes to salaries, operations and maintenance.

The county, he said, inherited a bloated workforce from the former county councils and national government and that there was little it could do with them.

"Embu County government inherited so many employees, having been a former provincial headquarters," he said.

BLOATED WORKFORCE

Reacting to criticism from his opponents that his administration was using more money on recurrent expenditure than development, Mr Wambora said this was as a result of the set-up of all county governments.

"Nobody can touch those people," he said of the bloated staff.

Mr Wambora, however, said his government was working to raise 30 per cent of money for development.

Mr Wambora supported the planned transfer of payment of maternity fees to the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF).

NHIF, he said, would ensure faster refund of the money to counties as opposed to the Ministry of Health.

"We are going to partner with the national government on the Okoa Mama programme," Mr Wambora, who flagged off the distribution of Sh3 million drugs to various hospitals in the county, said.

He added that through NHIF, pregnant women were free to seek services in public or private hospitals.

Mr Wambora listed his government’s success in health through employment of staff and building and providing hospitals with state-of-art equipment.