Murang’a governor Mwangi wa Iria on Wednesday criticized senators of being insincere in getting a formula for sharing revenue among counties.
Wa Iria stated that counties were in deep financial crisis and senators seemed not to be in a hurry to get solutions on how the revenue would be shared among counties.
He said workers at devolved administrations have not been paid for three months subjecting them to a lot of suffering.
The governor wondered why the Senate did not deliberate the matter earlier enough instead of waiting for the beginning of the current financial year.
“It’s very humiliating to seek workers at counties going for months without salaries. The staff have families to feed among other daily expenses they incur. The senators who are taking a lot of time to come up with a solution are being paid at the end of every month,” noted Wa Iria.
The governor said in some key sectors like health under devolved administration and without money, services in county governments would be grounded.
“There will be no services offered at county governments since there is no money. This will have affected the poor at the grassroots as they will miss some important services like medical care among others,” he added.
He lauded President Uhuru Kenyatta for his move to add Sh50 billion to devolution in next financial year saying the Senate should agree on the formula and allow money to be sent to counties.
Wa Iria observed that some of the senators were playing politics after they abandoned their oversight roles, thus delaying disbursement of resources to the devolved units.
The Council of Governors (CoG) had issued a notice to shut down operations at the counties following delay by the Senate to deliberate on the formulae on disbursement of resources to the counties.
Wa Iria who is also deputy chairperson of CoG said Mt Kenya region was concerned over the trend of some leaders who have been against sharing of resources through ‘one man one vote’ formulae.
“There are political leaders who have shown disconnect with revenue sharing formulae yet they will seek for the eight million votes in Mt Kenya region,” said Wa Iria.
Speaking elsewhere, Kandara MP Alice Wahome said it’s unfortunate that devolution is at stake due to lack of funding.
She accused the leadership of the Senate for failing to get a solution on how funds would be shared among counties.
“The Senate Majority Leader and the Majority Chief Whip can have numbers and get a way forward on how money will reach counties. Many workers are suffering due to the delay of salaries,” added Wahome.
By Bernard Munyao
