The Mandera Governor, Ali Roba on Sunday urged President Uhuru Kenyatta to end the stalemate over devolved funds.
Roba, who spoke when he launched county ambulances and the renal unit at the Mandera County Referral Hospital, said the best legacy Uhuru could leave behind was protecting devolution.
“I want to urge the President to stand with ‘mwananchi’. He should not be misguided or misled by a few individuals whose only intention is to demonise devolution,” Roba said.
The Governor wondered why it has become a big issue to have the counties given the Sh.11 billion they are demanding, saying it should have been the wisdom of the national government to increase the allocation from five to 10 per cent. He said all they had requested was four per cent.
“As counties, we have a long catalogue of services that we offer. They range from healthcare, ECDE, agriculture, roads, water and many other services that run the lifeline of the population,” he said.
Roba said before the advent of devolution, money was not reaching the grassroots.
The Mandera Assembly Speaker, Aden Khalif accused MPs of “taking the issue personal,” saying their sole purpose was to complete ground service in the counties.
“I hope reason prevails sooner rather than later. This push and pull is not helping matters at all. It is shameful and disgusting to say the least,” he said.
MPs want the counties to be given Sh.316 billion, up from the Sh.310 billion they had approved. But senators want the devolved units to be given Sh.327 billion.
The Council of Governors on Monday went to court to seek legal redress. They want the Supreme Court to declare whether MPs could deviate from recommendations by the Commission on Revenue Allocation on the shareable revenue.
By Dickson Githaiga
