The fight for control of Sh10.5 billion Roads Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF) is far from over with governors vowing not to withdraw a court case at the heart of the impasse.
Senators have also sided with the governors, saying they will also target the constituency development fund (CDF) should MPs continue to frustrate counties over the roads kitty.
Appearing before the Senate County Public Accounts Committee on Monday, Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru said they will not withdraw the case currently before the High Court as the grandstanding continues.
The Council of Governors went to court last year to challenge the use of the funds by the Kenya Roads Board to build roads in counties. Ms Waiguru expressed confidence that the outcome of the case would be in their favour.
“We are not going to withdraw the case of RMLF because it is an issue that is legal and in the Constitution. If someone feels like a certain governor is not doing roads with the money, there is a process of audit. But that cannot be an excuse to throw away the law and implement what your preference is,” said Ms Waiguru.
“We just need to put our foot down and ensure the basis of the 2010 Constitution, which is devolution, is not clawed back and if we will pay the price for this, so be it,” she added.
The immediate former CoG chairperson said they will not allow the National Assembly to claw back on devolution and they are ready to pay the price.
“The issue is not only the kitty for roads but the entire envelope of all conditional grants. For Kirinyaga, it is Sh1.2 billion that should be going to provide services to people on the ground,” she said.
The resource envelope under the conditional grants amounts to over Sh40 billion and includes Sh3.24 billion meant to pay community health promoters, Sh1.75 billion to clear striking health workers’ salary arrears, Sh116 million in court fines, billions in mineral royalties and some Sh10.5 billion for county aggregation and industrial parks.
The second term county boss maintained that the Constitution must be followed by having executive functions vested in the national government and devolved functions to counties strictly followed.
“We have to agree in this country whether we are governed by the rule of law or not. We can decide to throw away the Constitution and then we run the country the way we want. We cannot have preferences. Everybody has preferences but our preferences are not what runs the country,” said the governor.
Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna sided with Governor Waiguru, saying it is time for the Senate to also go for what MPs hold dear and that is CDF should the stalemate continue.
He said senators will not allow counties to be held hostage by MPs who have turned into contractors thinking that building roads is their work and are even ready to forego the Senate Oversight Fund.
“We have something that is very dear to them. Let them not scare us with this thing called the Senate Oversight Fund. You cannot compare those two things because if you look at the figures involved, it is not commensurate,” said the ODM Secretary-General.
“I am hoping that as a Senate, this is going to be an opportunity for us to ensure we resolve all those problems. If they want CDF, let them release RMLF because there is no reason why you have members of the National Assembly running on the ground there saying they are building roads and so on when the Constitution is clear,” he added.
Homa Bay Senator Moses Kajwang’ said about Sh61 billion is being held hostage by the stalemate and not only the Sh10.5 billion in road kitty.
“National Assembly has said that even if we amend the schedule to exclude RMLF, they still will not approve it. They want CoG to withdraw the case that is in court. For them that is the condition precedent to any conversation,” said the CPAC chairperson.
“This is a huge crisis that you guys should go back and find a way of resolving. It is bigger than the money that is in contention,” he added.
He said the current impasse is going to cause a lot of problems and the donors are already frustrated because they have provided resources in terms of grants and loans but necessary instruments for absorption have not been put in place.
“We are getting into the last quarter of the financial year. The National Assembly is in recess, the Senate is also going on recess this week and even if the money was to be released, then we are going to have absorption challenges,” he said.
This means, the senator explained, there will be several stalled projects because of delayed Exchequer releases, which will in turn raise audit queries.
“It is a very serious matter that the CoG, the Senate and NA must find a way of resolving. We have a lot of fights on things that do not matter but on this particular one we need to have some common approach to it because it is not money for us the leaders but money for Kenyans,” said Mr Kajwang’.
