President William Ruto has signed into law the Division of Revenue Bill, 2023, which the Senate passed last week.
Senators considered and passed the bill on April 20 without amendments in the form passed by the National Assembly.
This allocated counties Ksh.385 billion in the 2023/24 financial year, which is Ksh.15 billion more than the Ksh. 370 billion that has been allocated in the current financial year (2022/2023).
During last week’s vote, 25 legislators voted to pass the Bill without amendments, outnumbering Azimio La Umoja-allied leaders who had pushed for an amendment to give counties Ksh. 407 billion.
The decision was however condemned by governors, who accused the Senate of voting against the spirit of devolution.
“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,” the Council of Governors said in a statement read by their chair Anne Waiguru on Monday.
The enactment of the bill now paves the way for the preparation of the annual expenditure estimates for the 2023/24 financial year.
