State finally sends Sh16bn to counties

Kilifi and Mombasa are among counties that received big allocations as the national government started to disburse funds to devolved units.

According to the first schedule of disbursements for the current financial year, the National Treasury transferred Sh462 million to Kilifi out of the Sh5.4 billion it is entitled to this financial year.

Mombasa received Sh323 million out of its total allocation of Sh3.8 billion. The county also received an additional Sh35 million to go towards Mombasa Level 5 Hospital which has been allocated Sh414 million.

Kwale received Sh318 million out of its Sh3.7 billion allocation while Taita Taveta got Sh205 million out of Sh2.4 billion. Lamu and Taita Taveta were among the five counties that received the lowest allocations, with the former receiving Sh127 million out of its share of Sh1.5 billion. Taita Taveta received Sh205 million of its Sh2.4 billion allocation.

Nationally, Nairobi, Turkana, Mandera, Kakamega, Bungoma and Nakuru received the highest allocations.

Nairobi received the lion’s share of Sh807 million out of a total of Sh9.5 billion it is entitled to from the Exchequer. It was followed by Turkana County which received Sh651 million out of its Sh7.6 billion.

Highest allocation

Mandera received the third highest allocation of Sh556 million of Sh6.5 billion due to it while Kakamega came fourth with a disbursement of Sh553 million from its allocation of Sh6.5 billion. The county also received an additional Sh26 million to go towards the Level 5 Hospital which has been allocated Sh31 million.

Bungoma also reaped big, receiving Sh525 million out of its allocation of Sh6.1 billion, followed by Nakuru which got Sh504 million out of its Sh5.9 billion share. The county also received a further Sh51 million to go towards the Nakuru Level 5 Hospital.

In total, the National Treasury transferred Sh16 billion to the 47 counties out of Sh193 billion set aside for the devolved units in the 2013/2014 budget.

“Following the approval by the Controller of Budget for the withdrawal of funds from the Consolidated Fund, the National Treasury on Friday, August 30 advised the Central Bank of Kenya to release funds to all county governments and credit their respective county revenue funds,” said National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich while announcing the release of funds.

He asked all county executive committee members of Finance to acknowledge receipt of the funds disbursed to their regions.

Mr Rotich warned that he would not hesitate to stop disbursement of funds to counties that misuse them.

The county governments, he said, must use the funds in line with Article 201 of the Constitution which states that “public money shall be used in a prudent and responsible way”.

Article 225 of the Constitution and the Public Finance Management Act 2012 empower the Treasury Cabinet Secretary to stop transfer of funds to counties that misuse them.

Mr Rotich warned that county officials who misuse the funds would be prosecuted.

Lamu county received the lowest disbursement followed by Isiolo, which got Sh190 million out of its Sh2.2 billion share. Other low earners included Tharaka Nithi (Sh195 million), Laikipia (Sh214 million) and Samburu (Sh220 million).

Mr Rotich explained that even though President Uhuru Kenyatta had signed the County Allocation of Revenue Act 2013 into law on August 9, it became operational on August 26 meaning that no funds could have been disbursed before that date.

The disbursements come amid a push by some governors for a referendum to increase funds disbursed to counties from the current 15 per cent minimum to between 40 and 45 per cent.

The push which is being spearheaded by Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto has received support from Cord but has been opposed by the Jubilee coalition.