Governors demand release of Sh15bn El Niño funds from national government

Governors have asked the national government to release Sh15 billion set aside to address the effects of the El Niño rains in the counties.

The county chiefs noted that despite the government allocating Sh5 billion from the Contingency Fund and an additional Sh10 billion from donors, the counties had been left to fight the effects of the rains on their own.

However, the National Disaster Operations Centre, which is tasked with responding to the damage caused by El Niño rains, Sunday accused the governors of misleading the public.

The centre said counties were supposed to budget for the rains, with the national government only catering for any deficit, and this must be made through a formal request.

Lake Region Economic Bloc chairman Jack Ranguma and Bungoma Governor Ken Lusaka Sunday said counties had been left to fight the effects of the El Niño rains on their own.

“Counties have been forced to budget the little money they have to address this disaster, with no help from the national government. We are still waiting for the billions they had budgeted for,” said Mr Ranguma.

So far, the Kenya Red Cross estimates that more than 2,500 families in the Nyando belt in Kisumu have been displaced by the floods.

Since the rains started, at least 20 people have been killed by floods in various parts of the country.

NOT ENOUGH

“What we have is not enough to tackle the problems we have and that is where we expect the national government to come in,” said the Kisumu governor.

Mr Lusaka said Bungoma County required Sh380 million to mitigate the effects of El Niño, but could only manage Sh75 million.

“We still expect Sh305 million from the national government through the disaster management fund so that we can help residents, especially those affected by mudslides in Mt Elgon,” said Mr Lusaka, the Bungoma governor.

But the National Disaster Operations Centre said Sunday the El Niño preparedness team, led by Deputy President William Ruto, had decided that each county government was going to cater for its budget.

The agency said counties would only be receive cash from the Contingency Fund if the money required to mitigate the effects of the rains supersede their budgets.

Each county was to make a formal request detailing how much help they needed from the national government, a senior official at the disaster centre said Sunday.

NO OFFICIAL REQUEST

“So far, the disaster centre has not received any official request from any county for funds and we assume that their El Niño budgets are enough for them,” said the official, who refused to be named as El Niño preparedness communication was being handled by the ministry.

He went on: “It is not true that the national government has refused to release money, it is them (counties) that have not requested for money. They know the channels.”

The centre had allocated Sh1 billion for reconstruction of schools expected to be destroyed by the rains, Sh300 million for the school feeding programme, Sh50 million to sensitise fishermen on the effects of the rains and Sh37 million to purchase bar soaps for affected families.

Article 208 of the Constitution establishes the Contingencies Fund, which can only be withdrawn “if the Cabinet Secretary responsible for finance is satisfied that there is an urgent and unforeseen need for expenditure for which there is no other authority.”

Other counties affected by the rains are Narok, Tana River, Kwale, West Pokot, Homa Bay, Garissa, Mandera and Isiolo.