You’re out of touch, CoG retorts at Controller of Budget
Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi (third left) and his deputy Ahmed Muhumed (second left) during the launch of Disability Fund at the county headquarters on February 28, 2023.
The Council of Governors vice-chairman Ahmed Abdullahi has lashed out at the Controller of Budget over claims that counties were wasting expenditure for not spending development funds.
The Wajir Governor said the devolved units were yet to receive funds for equitable share from the National Treasury for November 2022.
“We are yet to access our money for November. The money is usually released from the National Treasury three months late then it takes three weeks before the Controller of Budget allows you to spend it,” Mr Abdullahi said during the launch of a disability fund at Wajir County government.
Mr Abdullahi made a come-back as Wajir governor in the 2022 polls after losing in the 2017 elections.
“You saw yesterday’s (Monday) headline. She is out of touch with reality. She should leave her air-conditioned office to come and see what we are going through. For instance, if you try and build a classroom today when locals are faced with severe drought you will almost be lynched. Locals do not expect any development as they have lost livestock and are at risk of losing their lives,” Mr Abdullahi charged.
His administration, he said, was trucking water to more than 177 sites across 57,000 square kilometres.
Pending bills
“You can know what that means if sitting in an office in Nairobi just looking at figures. I wish such discipline was exercised in the last five years as we have inherited Sh5.5 billion pending bills. We should be told where COB was at that time,” Mr Abdullahi said.
He warned that some people could be out to paint devolution in a bad light “so that they can kill it.”
“Counties will not cease to exist or operate because some bureaucrat is making wild allegations and giving half-truths. We will continue saving lives. That is what is important for now and once this is behind us we will do sustainable development, especially in the area of agriculture so that we can be well prepared for the next drought,” Mr Abdullahi.
The drought ravaging parts of the country has seen livestock perish, crops wither and rivers dry up.
Kenyans have further been exposed to hunger and high cost of farm produce.
The row between governors and Dr Nyakang'o has intensified as the county chiefs accused her of acting outside her mandate for rejecting their requests for the withdrawal of Sh3.2 billion.
Auditor-general
The county bosses also accused Dr Nyakang’o of overstepping her mandate and acting as the auditor-general by pushing to scrutinise county funds.
In an escalation of a supremacy battle between the two entities, the CoG faulted the move by Dr Nyakang’o to decline requests for the Sh3.2 billion, terming the grounds advanced by the CoB as “unrealistic”.
CoG Finance Committee Chairperson, Kakamega Governor Fernandes Barasa, said Dr Nyakang’o’s continued pressure on county governments to meet unrealistic expectations to access funds has affected the execution of critical activities.
The development comes after Dr Nyakang’o said her office denied counties Sh3.2 billion between July last year and January 2023 due to breaches of fiscal laws.
She pointed out that the 47 county governments made a requisition totalling over Sh182.7 billion, however, her office only approved Sh179.5 billion.
