MCAs fight to stop budget order

From left: Nyandarua MCA Kieru Wambui, lawyer Tom Ojienda and Mandera County speaker Abdikadir Sheikh outside a Nairobi Court on July 24, 2014. PHOTO | PAUL WAWERU

What you need to know:

  • The CRA last month issued a directive on budget ceilings to restrict spending by MCAs and assemblies.
  • The ceilings put a limit on cash that county executives and assemblies can spend in a move meant to curb misuse of resources.

Members of county assemblies have challenged a directive by the revenue commission that curtails their power to spend billions of shillings set aside for counties.

The MCAs, through lawyer Tom Ojienda, argued that the Commission on Revenue Allocation and the Controller of Budget had no authority to direct how counties spend the funds allocated to them.

Prof Ojienda submitted that the CRA and the Controller of Budget lacked any power to impose a ceiling on allocations to county budgets or, any legal mandate to approve the budgets.

“The respondents, in clear contravention of the Constitution, have written to all county governments to comply with their new guidelines, failure to which the Controller of Budget will not approve withdrawals by county governments from the Treasury,” said Prof Ojienda.

The CRA last month issued a directive on budget ceilings to restrict spending by MCAs and assemblies following an outcry over wastage of public funds through allowances and foreign trips.

Under the new ceilings, the total cost of funding new structures under devolved units should not exceed Sh13 billion of the total amount allocated per year for the executives and Sh17 billion for the assemblies.

The ceilings put a limit on cash that county executives and assemblies can spend in a move meant to curb misuse of resources and cut down unnecessary recruitment at the county governments.

Prof Ojienda, however, argued that the CRA and the Controller of Budget had overstepped their mandate by directing the counties on how to spend their funds.

“The mandate of CRA is only to recommend the basis for equitable sharing of revenue raised by the national government to the devolved government. The controller of budget is only mandated to ensure the funds are released,” he said.

The suit seeks orders suspending the circular issued by the CRA and an order compelling the Controller of Budget to release county funds.

Mr Justice Isaac Lenaola directed them to serve the respondents with the application before the hearing Friday.