Kenya could lose Sh2b in World Bank funding

The World Bank has warned Kenya that it could lose Sh2 billion intended to support agricultural projects in counties if Parliament fails to pass a legal framework for how the funding would be spent.

The resources are available and committed but cannot be accessed by counties because the necessary rules have not been created, said World Bank agriculture senior economist James Musinga at a meeting in Mombasa that included national and county agriculture officials.

“This is the situation we are in. At the World Bank, we have still not disbursed Sh200 million,” Musinga said.

“With the designated account at [the Central Bank of Kenya], we have Sh1.2 billion and in the national government account, we have Sh500 million which is supposed to go to counties, making a total of Sh2 billion which is available, committed but not yet accessible because of the framework.”

Cancellation looms

World Bank managers, he said, had issued instructions for the process of cancelling the funds to start if the required framework is not passed before lawmakers go on recess.

“Our management has considered that it will not be possible for these resources to be utilised if the framework is not passed before Parliament recesses,” he said.

The stalemate spells doom for 3,803 ongoing micro projects already approved by World Bank in counties, besides 36 ongoing sub-projects, also in counties, awaiting to be contracted.

“We are only waiting for the resources … we really hope and pray that our Parliament, with the intervention of the highest authority, is able to work on this,” explained Musinga.

Mediation committee

Counties, he said, are holding Sh490 million, resources he that he added are enough to complete at least 34 of the ongoing sub-projects.

A mediation committee handling the matter should hasten the process to save Kenya from losing the resources, said Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Andrew Karanja and Governor Ken Lusaka, the chairperson of the Council of Governors’ Agriculture, Livestock and Cooperatives Committee, yesterday.

“For the resources to be utilised, we need the county government additional allocation bill to become an Act. But it has not been passed,” said Karanja.

“The stalemate is definitely affecting the agriculture programmes in the country and if we don’t get a solution quickly enough, that money might be cancelled.

“This should be resolved as quickly as possible by the National Assembly and Senate [mediation] committee [that is] negotiating on the matter.”

Ongoing programmes will also be affected, Lusaka said.

“We want to ask the mediation committee to move with speed to resolve the issues that are outstanding so that the World Bank does not start the cancellation of resources that are supposed to come to counties,” he said.