Law puts senators in charge of county cash

President Uhuru Kenyatta signs into law the County Governments (Amendment) Act, 2014 at State House, Nairobi. PHOTO | PSCU

What you need to know:

  • The law was signed just two days ahead of a meeting between senators and governors which will be held in Mombasa from Friday.
  • The governors, led by their chairman, Mr Isaac Ruto of Bomet, view the new law as a move aimed at curtailing their powers, saying it would amount to an illegal amendment to the Constitution.
  • Mr Ruto also said governors were not satisfied with the Division of Revenue Bill because the money allocated to them — Sh226.6 billion — does not amount to 43 per cent of the country’s revenue as they had been promised.

Senators will in the next one month be in charge of committees which will determine which development projects will be implemented in counties after President Uhuru Kenyatta signed the Bill into law.

The County Governments (Amendment) Act, which the President signed at State House on Wednesday night, makes senators the chairmen of the newly created County Development Committees with governors becoming secretaries.

The law was signed just two days ahead of a meeting between senators and governors which will be held in Mombasa from Friday.

The signing of the new law, which becomes operational in a month, led the governors to call off the meeting Thursday. Instead, all the 47 governors will meet today to decide whether the amendment should be subjected to a referendum.

Thursday, Senators denied claims that they are out to usurp the powers of governors who are the chief executive officers at the county level.

Senator Stephen Sang’ (Nandi, URP) who sponsored the Bill said that the Council of Governors was misleading the public. He said the new law is meant to enhance public participation in devolved functions.

Already, governors have warned that they will go to court to challenge the constitutionality of the new law which also states that all MPs in a county, including the woman representatives, will be members of the committees.

County commissioners will also sit on the board as ex-officio members. County commissioners are representatives of the national government in the counties and their position has already created friction with some governors in counties like Mombasa.

The governors, led by their chairman, Mr Isaac Ruto of Bomet, view the new law as a move aimed at curtailing their powers, saying it would amount to an illegal amendment to the Constitution. According to them, such an amendment would require a referendum.

Before the law was passed, governors were in charge of initiating development projects in their counties but they will now serve as secretaries in the development boards.

“The Constitution stipulates clearly that the Governors are the CEOs of their respective counties and are, therefore, the main drivers of development,” Mr Ruto, who chairs the Council of Governors, told a press conference in Nairobi Thursday.

He also criticised the Division of Revenue Bill that President Kenyatta also assented to authorising the release of Sh226.6 billion to counties.

MOVED TO COURT

“The money released is below what we had agreed,” Mr Ruto who led his colleagues in criticising the County Governments (Amendment) Bill said and announced that they have already moved to court to challenge the amendment.

He quoted Section 30 (3) of the County Government Act, which states that the governor provides leadership in a county’s governance and development.

“It is, therefore, gravely prejudicial to create a body dealing with development and such body fails to recongnise the development role of the governor at the county level,” Mr Ruto said.

He also said that the Act interferes with the principle of separation of powers. According to Article 96 of the Constitution, the Senate is a legislative body, not an implementing body.

“Involving it in matters of development at the county level poses as an unnecessary interference and clouds the separation of powers principle,” he said.

He also quoted Article 255 (i) of the Constitution, which stipulates that, where there is a proposed amendment relating to the objects, principles and structures of devolved government, a referendum would be required.

“Since the amendments provided in the County Government Amendment Act, 2014, relate to the structures of the county governments, then the Act is essentially a nullity.”

MCA ROLE NEGATED

Mr Ruto further noted that the County Government Act has already provided mechanisms being sought in the proposed amendments.

Section 54 of the County Governments Act, he said, created “a county intergovernmental forum chaired by the governor, for harmonisation and coordination of development activities.”

Mr Ruto — who first read a written statement — expressed concern that the amendment negated the role of the Members of the County Assembly.

“We maintain that the Governor shall be the main driver of development in the County and any attempt to weaken that role is a clear violation of the will of the people,” the statement read.

Mr Ruto also said governors were not satisfied with the Division of Revenue Bill because the money allocated to them — Sh226.6 billion — does not amount to 43 per cent of the country’s revenue as they had been promised.

“It is shocking that only Sh1.8 billion was allocated to Level 5 hospitals compared to the Sh3.7 billion we used for the same facilities last year,” Mr Ruto said and accused MPs of sabotaging governors.

He argued that the money would not be sufficient to run the hospitals which have been at the heart of a dispute over whether they should be managed and funded by the national or devolved governments.