Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua on Monday revealed that the government is committed to disbursing all allocated funds to counties despite the prevailing financial challenges facing the nation following the withdrawal of finance bill 2024.....CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE>>>
Gachagua was speaking when he chaired the 24th Ordinary Session of the Intergovernmental Budget and Economic Council (IBEC) at his Official Residence in Karen, Nairobi, where he also told the County Chiefs that the financial allocations for the last financial year had been fully disbursed.
He, at the same time, told the IBEC that the National Treasury was already working on clearing the pending monthly allocations to the devolved units that have been constantly involved in push and pull with the treasury over the submission of the funds to enable efficient service delivery.
“During the last financial year (2023/24), The National Treasury transferred Ksh 354.5 billion to counties by June 30, 2024, an equivalent of 92% of the total equitable share due to counties. The outstanding amount of Sh30.83 billion for June was released in July,” noted the DP.
The Deputy President also appealed to the governors to put more effort to clear the pending bills in their respective counties to boost the economy of the country.
“The National Treasury indicates that as of June 30, 2024, outstanding National Government pending bills stands at Sh516 billion, a decrease from Sh622.82 billion as of June 30, 2023. Initial comparative reports for 26 counties show a significant reduction from 43.6 Billion Shillings to 33.9 Billion Shillings as of June 2024,” he added.
National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi also revealed plans that are underway for the release of revenue to the counties covering the months of July and August by September, 2024. This came as the counties decry a lack of funds to cover staff salaries.
Gachagua also asked the governors to work closely with the Controller of Budget, Margaret Nyakang’o, to implement recommended measures to effectively address matters through the budgetary processes.
On President Ruto’s directive on the need for equal sharing of revenue from national parks, the DP revealed that progress is being made to address the issue quickly as directed by the President.
He added that the Ministry of Tourism had established a technical team of relevant stakeholders to develop a comprehensive implementation roadmap of the directive.
“The team has made significant recommendations, including proposing that the matter be handled by the CRA, in line with its Constitutional mandate on revenue distribution,” he stated.
The IBEC resolved that necessary adjustments will be made to budgets of this financial year following the withdrawal of the Finance Bill 2024 so as to consolidate on the available resources.
“It was noted that with the exceptional circumstances of FY 2024/25, and the withdrawal of the Finance Bill 2024/25, there was a need for counties to appreciate the need for a variation of the Division of Revenue Bill and restructure their respective Finance Bills accordingly. The Council of governors requested that they be allowed to engage the Senate on the matter,” the Council said in a statement…CONTINUE READING>>
