County employees and suppliers should brace themselves for hard economic times ahead after Council of Governors announced salary and payment delays.
In a letter dated July 23 and addressed to governors by CoG chairman Wycliffe Oparanya, counties will not be able to pay, as monies will not be disbursed by the National Treasury following the collapse of mediation talks over the Division of Revenue Bill.
There is an ongoing stalemate over county allocation to the counties between the Senate and the National Assembly.
The National Assembly wants all 47 counties to be given Sh316 billion while senators want counties to be given Sh327 billion. ”
While arguments have been advanced for counties to utilize own source revenue, and opening balances carried forward, from teh FY 2018/2019, this cannot cut across board. This is not an option we can fall back to because it will disadvantage other counties,” Oparanya said in the letter.
“…by a copy of this letter, we wish to alert all unions, private sector, citizens who receive services from county governments and most importantly the employees of the county governments to note that the times ahead will be tough. We also urge the banks to note the ongoing crisis and do not penalise county employees for late or failure to service their standing order in time due to the prevailing situation,” the letter reads in part.
“We also urge landlords to note this crisis and extend time for payment of rent as we seek to resolve this issue”.
The standoff continued Tuesday with the Senate debating and passing its own version in 40 minutes, while as a similar bill was introduced in the National Assembly, with a proposal to allocate Sh316 billion to the counties. The Senate settled on Sh335 billion as the equitable shareable revenue for the counties.
On July 18, Senate Speaker Kenneth Lusaka led senators in a march to the High Court to file a petition challenging more than 20 laws enacted without their input as the turf war with the National Assembly escalates.
The bone of contention between the two chambers, then and now, arises from the interpretation of Article 110 (3) of the Constitution. But Chief Justice David Maraga has urged governors, senators and MPs to give dialogue a chance before allowing the Supreme Court to intervene on the Division of Revenue Bill.
CoG has in the raised an alarm over gaps in the dispensation of devolution money from the Treasury, saying the national government is hell-bent to cripple devolution.
