President Uhuru Kenyatta has told off governors and senators for demanding more money to be allocated to counties.
Speaking in Murang’a County during the burial of Mr Peter Kenneth’s mother on Thursday afternoon, President Kenyatta said counties should not ask for money that is not available in the first place.
“We do not have factory to print money. We have to share what we have,” said the seemingly agitated President.
The Head of State urged the county bosses to first fight corruption in their counties before demanding more resources from the national government.
“Let us work for our people. We should not think about our stomachs alone. You should take what you have been given,” Mr Kenyatta said.
Speaking in the same function, Orange Democratic Movement leader Raila Odinga commended the President for stepping up the fight against graft.
“We want to see justice in the fight against corruption. Just recently, United States Ambassador to Kenya (Kyle McCarter) said Kenya could save Sh800 billion annually if corruption was eradicated,” Raila said.
On his part, Deputy President William Ruto assured the President that Jubilee leaders support his fight against graft and development agenda.
Allocation
On Tuesday, July 24, the Senate debated and passed its own version of the Division of Revenue Bill 2019 in a record 40 minutes.
It settled on Ksh335 billion as the equitable shareable revenue for counties in the 2019/20 financial year.
The National Assembly, on the other hand, introduced its own bill, with the MPs proposing a total allocation of Sh316 billion for the counties
The National Assembly Bill was introduced by the chairman of the Budget and Appropriations Committee, Kimani Ichung’wa, after Speaker Justin Muturi faulted the 2013 Supreme Court advisory on the role of the Senate in enactment of the bill.
The Division of Revenue Bill 2019 has left the Senate and the National Assembly sharply divided.
The two law-making organs have different figures for what is due to the counties.
While the National Assembly has proposed that counties get Sh316 billion, the Senate insists that the law must be respected and counties allowed to get their reasonable share.
