Senators and governors have criticized members of the National Assembly for rejecting their proposal to allocate more funds to counties.
In a renewed rivalry between the two Houses of Parliament, senators called some MPs’ remarks unfortunate. Led by Edwin Sifuna (Nairobi), the senators argued that the MPs’ actions undermine devolution.
“The challenges facing counties need to be discussed soberly, without emotions. It was wrong for the other House to cast aspersions on our decision, which is meant for the good of the country. Their decision aims to poison the minds of Kenyans against devolution,” Sifuna said.
“We cannot be pointing fingers at governors yet we have seen corruption in the management of the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) over the years. Even as they point fingers at governors, they should also do so for the national government.”
Speaking on the floor of the House, Samson Cherargei (Nandi) accused the National Assembly of misleading the country by suggesting that increasing the allocation to counties to Sh415 billion would result in a reduction of funds earmarked for the NG-CDF.
“The reason we want the allocation to counties increased is to ensure that our people get good services. It is shameful that our colleagues in the National Assembly are out to mislead the country over the Senate proposal,” said Cherargei.
Meanwhile, the Council of Governors, represented by the chairman of its Finance Committee, Kakamega Governor Fernandes Barasa, warned that rejecting the proposal would cripple county services. Barasa emphasized that devolved regions need more funds to implement projects.
“The National Assembly’s Budget Committee’s rejection of the senators’ proposal to increase county allocations to Sh415 billion is problematic. Counties have medical equipment to service and various other devolved functions that require funding,” he said.
He added that he couldn’t understand why MPs rejected the Senate’s proposal, pointing out that counties are taking on more responsibilities and need sufficient funding to make devolution effective.
“In the previous financial year, the national government devolved more roles to counties, and therefore adding less than Sh20 billion to be divided among the 47 counties makes it difficult to successfully run critical functions like health and agriculture, among others,” he said.
