Governors accuse State of stifling devolution, demand more money

Governors have accused the national of undermining devolution terming it treasonable and subversive.

Council of Governors (CoG) chairman Peter Munya said both the counties and the national government are sovereign and any attempts to undermine devolution must be resisted.

“It is like undermining the existence of our republic because the constitution has entrenched devolution,” Mr Munya said amid loud cheers from thousands of delegates at the Meru National Polytechnic, the venue for the third national devolution conference.

The county bosses also used the meeting to celebrate their governments’ achievements and urged Kenyans to protect the system at “all costs”.

Mr Munya took issue with what he termed as continued passing of laws that whittle down devolution including the Water Bill he said aims at taking the function from counties.

“Some agencies are being formed to eat into the roles counties should be playing in the management of various sectors,” Mr Munya lamented.

“Some agencies that were supposed to hand functions to counties are being reinvented in the name of authorities including the National Water Conservation and Storage,” he said.

The Meru governor vouched for equitable sharing of national resources. He said the Constitution should be amended so that at least 45 per cent of revenue goes to counties.

However, the judiciary received accolades for protecting devolution as Mr Munya tore into individuals he accused of undermining the transfer of resources to the grassroots.

Mr Munya demanded that the National Treasury allocates money for constructing and renovating the 40,000 kilometres of roads that were placed under counties. They also want cash for libraries and museums.

He lamented that disbursement of cash to counties is slow and called for a review of the Integrated Financial Management Information System used to transfer money to the devolved units.

“Most of the counties have been left in the red after missing out on their allocations up to January and this had denied residents timely services,” Mr Munya told delegates.

He said conditional grants from donors should also be channelled directly to counties. The governor said directing such funds through national government ministries is unconstitutional.

“It is a mistake to classify donor money as conditional grants. A lot of donor money is stack at national level and this is frustrating donors,” added Mr Munya.

He said there’s a breach in division of revenue bill where some functions run by counties, such as youth polytechnics, are not being funded.

Mr Munya said the bill on pension should also cater for county workers to avoid discrimination.

He said money the Constituency Development Fund should be deducted from the national government kitty just like the Women and Youth Fund.

He dismissed assertions that counties receive money from national government saying the “money is collected nationally from everybody.”

“We don’t get money from national government, only national grants. We are all tax payers. They should not say we need to be grateful for receiving the money as if we exist because of them. The institutions that share the money are created by law,” said Mr Munya.

He denied that CoG runs an illegal fund to which all counties contribute.

At the same time, Mr Munya dismissed the Punguza Mzigo referendum initiative that seeks to reduce the number of counties. He said the 47 counties are “not too many”.

Mr Munya said devolution needs to be nurtured and empowered for the country’s growth.