Counties to inherit assets and liabilities of councils

County governments should take over all the assets and liabilities of the defunct local authorities, a High Court has ruled.

This, according to judge Mary Kasango, is because the determination of the assets and liabilities of the defunct municipalities by the Transition Authority was concluded by March 4, 2013, and is no longer pending, as per the Fourth Schedule of the Transition to the Devolved Government Act.

Lady Justice Kasango issued the order following an application by a private firm, Argos Furnishers Limited, which was demanding payment of Sh36,902,700 from the former municipal council, now the Mombasa County.

“There is an elaborate procedure currently being undertaken to establish the assets and liabilities,” the Mombasa city manager stated in her affidavit.

Therefore, according to her, the county was not in a legal position to satisfy the decree ordering it to pay the plaintiff the cash until the Transition Authority makes a determination on the transfer of assets and liabilities.

But the judge said the position adopted is that legal proceedings instituted against defunct local authorities should proceed against county governments under whose jurisdiction the municipalities were located.