The Council of Governors (COG) meeting in Naivasha has resolved to work with the office of Controller of Budget (COB) to automate all budgetary issues by December this year in order to enhance transparency and accountability.
Speaking to the press in Naivasha Thursday evening at the conclusion of their three-day retreat, the COG chair Ms. Anne Waiguru who is also Kirinyaga Governor said the governors had concluded that this will also save time and resources where officers have been travelling to Nairobi to get the office of COB to approve budgetary documents.
The COG has also unanimously agreed to engage the Salaries and Remuneration Committee (SRC) to review the remuneration of governors and their deputies so that what they are remunerated is in accordance to their work.
The governors and their deputies who were elected on August 9, some for the second term are in Naivasha to also be sensitized on the new changes in the laws including on private / public partnership, issues of finance and procurement and the thorny issue of bloated human resource among others.
The governors’ body has further resolved to work with the SRC and County Assemblies to harmonize all salaries and allowances of all County government staff at all levels in order to end disparity in remuneration of these employees, come up with tenure for chief officers and employment of the Early Childhood (ECD) educators.
The governors also pledged to work with the Inter-Governmental Relations Technical Committee (IGRTC) to ensure the transfer of all devolved functions which were still being held by the National Government and ensure that the funds follow these devolved functions as they come to us.
They also appealed to the National Treasury to release the monies due to the counties on 15th of every month as set up in the law in order to avoid delaying the functionality of these governments.
The 2010 Constitution set up 47 devolved governments in the country. It then set up mechanism for equitable sharing of revenue among county governments and is based on the provision of Article 217 of the Constitution, read together with Article 216 and the Fifth Schedule Section 16.
By Mabel Keya –Shikuku
