Cash crunch in counties has stalled ‘Pesa Mashinani’ drive, says Governor Munya

Council of Governors Chairman Peter Munya. He has blamed the cash crunch in counties for stalling the ‘Pesa Mashinani’ referendum drive. PHOTO | PHOEBE OKALL | NATION MEDIA GROUP

By  Silas Apollo

What you need to know:

  • The quest by governors has hit a snag over what they say is poor funding to facilitate the collection of signatures across counties.
  • The campaign seeks to hand the county bosses a share of grants, including non-repayable aid from foreign governments.
  • The Meru Governor said party affiliation in the council had complicated making certain decisions regarding the referendum drive.
  • The council is keen not to portray itself as driving a similar campaign as the ‘Okoa Kenya’ drive by Cord.

Council of Governors Chairman Peter Munya has blamed the cash crunch in counties for stalling the ‘Pesa Mashinani’ referendum drive.

The campaign was aimed at making the national government allocate more money to counties.

The crusade, a brainchild of Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto, sought to increase allocations to counties from the current 15 to 45 per cent of the national budget.

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However, the quest by governors has hit a snag over what they say is poor funding to facilitate the collection of signatures across counties.

The council has so far collected only 600,000 signatures out of the required one million to lobby the Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission approve the referendum for a vote.

Mr Munya also attributed the delay to opposition from the national government.

“We cannot move the agenda forward because of a shortage of resources to complete the process of getting the signatures.

"It has also become hard to push decisions that have political implications,” Mr Munya told the Nation Wednesday.

REVISE SHARING METHOD

The governors also want a revision of the method of sharing revenue between the national and devolved governments.

Similarly, the campaign seeks to hand the county bosses a share of grants, including non-repayable aid from foreign governments and other financial institutions, as well as the Sh3.4 billion equalisation fund.

This is besides a quest to control 15 per cent of oil, gas and other income from minerals in counties.

The Meru Governor said party affiliation in the council had complicated making certain decisions regarding the referendum drive.

This is because while the council is keen not to portray itself as driving a similar campaign as the ‘Okoa Kenya’ drive by the Opposition Cord, governors from the opposition have called for its merger.

“This is a tough decision you cannot make as an individual.

"The Council of Governors is made up of county bosses from Opposition parties and government side,” the Meru Governor said.

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