Counties to wait longer for cash as Parliament team rows

Cash-strapped counties will continue to suffer after an 18 member panel, put together to mediate in the row over allocation of funds to devolved units, failed to agree on its first sitting.

The team, bringing together nine members each from the National Assembly and the Senate disagreed, prompting the unceremonious postponement of the meeting to next Wednesday.

Senate Finance and Budget Committee chairman Mohamed Mahamud had to cut short the meeting after it almost degenerated into a shouting match.

The failure to strike a compromise will further paralyse counties, which are yet to receive fund from the Treasury into the second month of the new year that started in July.

Some counties are yet to pay July salaries because of inadequate revenues collected from sources like parking fees, business permits and land rates.

National Assembly and Senate is locked in a protracted dispute over the Division of Revenue Bill, 2019 that allocates funds collected nationally between counties and national government.

The Bill has stalled twice with the Senate insisting that Sh335 billion should be sent to the counties to run services for the year to June 2020. The National Assembly rejected the Senate decision to amend its version of the Bill that has set the maximum amount of money to be sent to counties at Sh316 billion.

Article 113 of the Constitution allows the formation of a Mediation Committee where both Houses fail to agree on the Bill that shares revenue between the two levels of government.

Before the talks collapsed, the Senators made it clear that they will not take anything less than Sh335 billion but Leader of Majority Aden Duale told them to take a pay cut to raise county allocation to the amount.