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Governors across the 47 counties have threatened to shut down operations in the next two weeks citing an unprecedented four-month delay in funding from the national government.

Addressing members of the press on Monday, Council of Governors chair Anne Waiguru said the National Treasury owes counties 94.35 billion despite several reminders.

According to Waiguru, the national government had failed to disburse a total of Ksh31.45 billion to all 47 counties in February, Ksh29.6 billion in March and 33.3 billion in April, all totalling Ksh94.35 billion.

The Kirinyaga county boss lamented that the four-month funding delay negates the spirit of the governor’s recent meeting with President William Ruto.

“The four-month delay is unprecedented in the history of devolution and negates the spirit of the meeting held in Naivasha between His Excellency The President and the Governors,” Waiguru said after chairing a CoG meeting on Monday.

She gave an ultimatum to Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u to release the cash within the next two weeks or force county bosses to shut down operations.

At the same time, Waiguru warned that county governments will not be able to deliver services as expected due to the cash crunch.

“We, therefore, call upon the CS National Treasury to immediately release the Ksh.94.35 billion owed to County Governments without any further delay,” Waiguru said.

“By dint of this, the Council of Governors hereby issues a 14 days’ notice to shut down Counties if February, March and April arrears are not released within two weeks. We also notify the citizens of Kenya that due to the failure of the National Treasury to disburse the funds, County Governments will not be able to deliver services as expected.”

The ultimatum comes two weeks after health workers slammed the government over perennial salary delays occasioned by a cash crunch in counties.

In a joint statement read by Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) Secretary General Dr Davji Atellah on April 11, the medics drawn from various unions said the National Treasury’s failure to disburse the funds to counties has continued to cripple operations in all 47 counties by affecting the timely payment of salaries of workers who provide crucial services.

“It has been over ten years since health was devolved. It is worrying that no proper framework has been established to ensure healthcare services function efficiently and effectively,” the workers said as they threatened to down tools.

“Kenyans have witnessed numerous blame games between national and county governments concerning finances, drug and equipment acquisition, employment of healthcare workers which have led to the detriment of the healthcare service delivery. This blame game is unwarranted and does not serve the interest of anyone especially the sick who need the health services as enshrined in the constitution.”

Meanwhile, Waiguru on Monday also castigated the Senate for shooting down the Divison of Revenue Bill, 2023 last week, which would have seen the devolved units get Ksh407 billion as equitable share in the FY 2023/24.

“This is a new low for a House of Parliament Constitutionally mandated to represent the Counties and serve to protect devolution,” the governor said.

“We note with concern that in the history of devolution, the senate has never voted against the spirit of devolution in as far as the increase of resources is concerned. We call upon the Senate to uphold their primary mandate that County Governments are well-resourced in order to perform their functions optimally.”