Governors to shut counties again from Monday
By Douglas Dindi, October 11, 2020
The Council of Governors (CoG) has threatened to shut down operations in county governments again if the Treasury fails to remit revenue by Monday.
CoG Chairman Wycliffe Oparanya over the weekend warned that governors were running out of options and will not hesitate to ground services if funds are not disbursed by Monday.
He claimed that counties are surviving on loans from commercial banks after the national Treasury delayed to disburse funds over the past three months of the new financial year.
He added that counties that had failed to access loans from the banks and were in a serious financial quagmire.
“Where we are as counties need the President’s intervention to have the funds released to counties,” Oparanya said, adding: “This should be top on President Uhuru’s agenda when he returns from.a working trip in France”.
Oparanya made the remarks at a funeral Mzee Stephen Sjiraku in Matioli, Lurambi sub county.
Oparanya said governors were reading a sinister motive in tje dekays and wants the President to direct the National Treasury to release funds by Monday next week to save counties.
He regretted that the stalemate has been caused by Senate delays to pass the third generation revenue sharing formula and approval of the County Revenue Allocation enable counties get funds.
The Supreme Court advisory allows counties to access 50 percent of the equitable share from the Treasury in the event of such a delay, an option that the Treasury has overlooked.