Laikipia county workers get their July salaries

Laikipia County government has finally paid July salaries for workers and averted a strike that would have paralysed operations.
Governor Ndiritu Muriithi said that the move was made possible after the local County Assembly passed a vote on account motion to allow his administration to spend 30 percent of its revenue collection to pay the over 3,000 workers’ salaries.
Speaking on Thursday in Nanyuki town after he met 18 Kiambu Members of County Assembly who are on a benchmarking tour on drafting a county revenue board bill, governor Muriithi said that the move was necessary to avert paralysis of service delivery in the county as they await outcome between Council of Governors (CoG) and the national government on division of revenue in the devolved units.
“Workers’ salaries have started reflecting in their bank accounts since we are now able to utilise our cash flow to pay them following the passage of a vote on account bill at the Assembly that gives authority to spend a portion of our budget estimates from local revenue to run operations as we await allocations from Treasury,” Governor Muriithi said.
The governor called for resolution of the impasse between the National Assembly and the Senate over the Division of Revenue bill in order to unlock the stalemate on the release of funds from the national government.
“I am calling on the National Assembly and the Senate to move with speed and resolve this matter that has threatened to cripple service delivery in counties. It would be very sad indeed for those of us in leadership positions if devolution were to suffer under our watch,” he said.
Governor Muriithi said normal government operations were going on in the county and assured residents of uninterrupted service delivery.
The National Assembly has proposed that counties get Sh316 billion, the Senate wants them allocated Sh335 billion. The two Houses have disagreed on the exact amount in of funds that should go to the counties as equitable shareable revenue in the 2019/20 financial year.
Thursday, COG moved to the Supreme Court seeking a constitutional interpretation of the legal steps involved in budget making and Division of Revenue.
By Martin Munyi