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Kenya

Governors slam MPs’ control of Equalization Fund

Led by Chairman Peter Munya, the Governors say the monies should be managed by counties stating that placing them under CDF which has already been declared unconstitutional by the courts was against the law/FILE

Led by Chairman Peter Munya, the Governors say the monies should be managed by counties stating that placing them under CDF which has already been declared unconstitutional by the courts was against the law/FILE

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 5 – Governors have slammed Members of the National Assembly for passing a constitutional amendment that seeks to place the management of the Sh6billion Equalization Fund under constituencies.

Led by Chairman Peter Munya, the Governors say the monies should be managed by counties stating that placing them under CDF which has already been declared unconstitutional by the courts was against the law.

The Governors now want the Senate to reject the Bill when it comes to them for concurrence before it is signed into law by the President.

“The council maintains that the fund should go directly to counties and should be managed by counties. The functions to be implemented by the fund are all devolved functions to the county governments. We urge the Senate to reject the legislation,” stressed Munya.

The governors stated that if the Senate failed to raise the numbers to defeat the Bill, they would move to court to challenge the law as it was akin to undermining their roles.

Already the Bill has been forwarded to the Senate and it is expected to re-ignite the endless supremacy wars between the two Houses as each attempts to prove its ‘muscle’ on the matter.

READ: MPs wrestle Sh6bn fund from governors control

The Meru Governor went on to question why three years since the implementation of the devolved system of governance, none of the allocated monies had been disbursed to the counties adding that those areas that were set to benefit from the fund had yet to receive the monies.

“The fact that no disbursement has been realised shows the unwillingness of the National Government to implement the fund’s objectives,” he said.

Munya who was accompanied by Kitui Governor Julius Malombe and Kakamega governor Wycliffe Oparanya also cautioned the National Government against entering into contractual agreements without involving them saying most amounted to debt and greatly affected their equitable share.

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“You cannot borrow money on my behalf without my authority. It becomes very difficult when those loans mature for payment you can’t ask a county to pay for money which they didn’t ask you to borrow and which they were not involved in the utilisation,” he added.

Munya further complained over the continuous borrowing by the National Government pointing out that it affected the amount of shareable revenue.

He said the National Government would be forced to first prioritise the debt before it can disburse monies to counties hence delaying the implementation of county functions.

Munya further asked the two Houses to reject the proposed amendments to the Land Bills saying they were retrogressive and would result in centralization of land management by the National Government.

Munya stated that the laws would not only undermine the role of the National Land Commission but also the core function of devolution.

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