GOVERNORS' CONFERENCE: Sharing of national cake takes centre stage at meeting

The long-running tiff between the national and county governments over the sharing of national revenue resurfaced on Tuesday at the ongoing 4th Devolution Conference in Naivasha town, Nakuru County.

The Council of Governors said the issue was still “a major challenge” and appealed to the National Treasury to put in place “mechanisms for expeditious disbursement of funds” to the devolved units.

This, CoG vice-chairman John Mruttu said, will ensure uninterrupted service delivery in the regions.

Mr Mruttu said the proposed allocation of Sh291 billion for the 2017/2018 financial year was “a reduction to counties in real amounts”.

The Taita-Taveta governor added: “Even though the allocation to counties has grown by 3.6 per cent, this is against the backdrop of an inflation rate of between 6.5 and 9 per cent.

“Needless to say, allocations should be equitable as emphasised by the Constitution.”

Whereas there has been progressive predictability on the county cash transfers, said Mr Mruttu, counties continue to experience challenges of cash flow.

“The law requires disbursement by the 15th date of every month,” said Mr Mruttu. “The use of overdrafts from the Central Bank to cover for the delays is not a sustainable solution to ensure service delivery in the counties is undertaken equitably, fairly, cost-effectively and profitably.”

WYCLIFFE OPARANYA

Similar concerns were raised by Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya and Kisii Deputy Governor Joash Maangi.

Mr Oparanya insisted that the funds being sent to the counties were inadequate.

“The national budget is approximately Sh4.6 trillion,” said Mr Oparanya. “Out of this amount, all 47 counties have only received Sh291 billion, roughly 10 per cent of the budget.”

While agreeing with the Kakamega governor over the issue, Mr Maangi, who also chairs the Council of Deputy Governors, pointed out that delays in the disbursement of funds to counties also negatively affected service delivery.

“We are, for instance, unable to pay our contractors because we don’t have money,” said Mr Maangi. “Counties have not yet even received their allocations for January.”

Meanwhile, county governments were on Tuesday on the spot for levying high taxes with traders saying this was stifling business.

County bosses however defended themselves against the accusations, insisting that their tax regimes were business-friendly.

Traders accused the regional governments of coming up with punitive taxes in their respective Finance Bills that “ate into their profits”.

During a session on the ease of doing business in counties, Ms Esther Nyokabi, a trader from Naivasha, also accused the counties of not involving the public while crafting their respective Finance Bills.

WERE WORKING

Mr Maangi however defended the devolved units, saying their tax regimes were much friendlier than perceived. He said counties were working round the clock to ensure that the business environments were friendlier to traders.

“Apart from the friendlier Finance Bills, in Kisii County, for instance, we have opened up more than 8,000 murram roads in the region, which have, in turn, enabled farmers have access to ready markets,” Mr Maangi explained.

Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero said they were working closely with the World Bank to identify areas that needed improvements to enable traders do business with ease.

“Some of the areas identified are business registration and electricity connectivity,” said Dr Kidero. “We have also automated our processes and it takes only one day to get a business permit.

“It wasn’t like this before.”

County Assemblies Forum chairman Johnson Osoi urged Ward Representatives to make laws that create a sound business environment that will not frustrate upcoming investments.