CoG Responds to 10 Governors Criticized

CoG Responds to 10 Governors Criticized

CoG Responds to 10 Governors Criticized

In a statement released on Wednesday, the Council of Governors (CoG) defended governors who had come under fire for not allocating funds for county-wide development projects between July and September of 2023.In the 2023 Quarter 1 report, Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o said that some governors had given county projects less than 1% of their budgets.

The CoG responded, arguing that it would be unrealistic to expect all county  governments to have the same spending since each had its budget and work plans  authorized at the start of the year, through Governor Anne Waiguru, the CoG’s chair. It further emphasized that, according the Controller of Budget’s advice, governors  should give payment of outstanding county debts precedence over development  initiatives. Waiguru went on to say that most of the outstanding invoices have an impact on  development projects.

“Articles on the Controller of Budget’s first quarter report that appeared in the local daily have brought the Council of Governors’ attention. These articles claim that certain County Governments did not allocate any funds for development.

“County governments follow the law in all aspects of the procurement process. Thus, the intricacy of these procedures occasionally causes a delay in the adoption of development funding. In the spirit of accountability to the people we serve, County Governments understand how important it is to make sure that procurement procedures are thorough, transparent, and compliant with the law,” Waiguru said.

The head of Kirinyaga County, Waiguru, also said that governors deal with several  obstacles that impact development funds, like as the Controller of Budget’s four-month approval process. Another significant negative mentioned was the County Governments Additional  Allocations Bill, 2023’s delayed enactment, which was anticipated to result in  more funds from the federal government.

“The delay by the Parliament to enact the County Governments Additional Allocations Bill, 2023, has constrained the disbursement of conditional grants to counties. “It is important to note that most of the ongoing development projects are funded by these grants. We further note that to date, Parliament is yet to pass this crucial Bill to allow for release and flow of funds to Counties to pay major projects that are on going,” part of the statement read.

Kenya’s Johnson Sakaja, Wavinya Ndeti (Machakos), Gideon Mung’aro (Kilifi), and Cecily Mbarire (Embu) were among the governors included in the study. The others were Simon Kachapin (West Pokot), Jeremiah Lomorukai (Turkana), Jonathan Lelelit (Samburu), Erick Mutai (Kericho), and Ahmed Abdullahi of Wajir.