President William Ruto will today chair the 11th National and County Co-ordinating Summit at a time governors have raised concerns about delays in the disbursing of funds to regional governments. County chiefs are also unhappy with the office of Controller of Budget, which, they claim, has been depicting them as corrupt and inept.

It is an open secret that governors detest audit reports showing their ravish spending on recurrent expenditure, travel and allowances at the expense of much-needed development. A report from the Controller of Budget released this month revealed that 10 counties had not spent even a single coin on development.

This is the kind of exposure that governors are uncomfortable about. But to take on the office of the Controller of Budget is not only misguided but also an affront to the Constitution.

Kenya has two independent offices that scrutinise public spending: the Auditor-General and the Controller of Budget. The role of independent offices is to protect the sovereignty of the people, secure the observance by all State organs of democratic values and principles and promote constitutionalism. Established under Article 228 of the Constitution, the Controller of Budget shall oversee the implementation of the budgets of the national and county governments by authorising withdrawals from public funds.

It is a well-known fact that the two independent offices are about the only working institutions of accountability in the Kenya Kwanza administration. Indeed, there has been an attempt to undermine their activities, as was shown by the arrest of Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o late last year over complains that were made against her to years ago.

We encourage the Controller of Budget to resist any bullying from governors due to her demands for fiscal discipline in the use of public funds. President Ruto should also not succumb to the mischief of county chiefs.

There is, however, merit in governors’ protests over delayed transfers of roles assigned to devolved governments by the Constitution. National government agencies such those handling roads and water continue to execute mandates that are supposed to be devolved. Counties can longer access funds from the Kenyan Roads Board for improving local infrastructure. The unbundling and transfer of the functions is long overdue to prevent duplication. The Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee must do its job.