About 32 county governments are yet to approve their 2021/22 budget more than a month into the new financial year.
This means that they may not access their shareable revenue from the national government disbursed on a monthly basis in the latest move by the Controller of Budget (CoB) Dr Margaret Nyakang’o.
The measure to instil discipline in the management of public funds comes as the CoB warned that counties with adverse or disclaimer of opinion in their audited accounts will have their equitable allocations frozen.
The move will have serious effects on delivery of critical services such as health and water at the counties but the CoB is obligated to enforce the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act.
Dr Nyakang’o spoke when she was summoned to appear before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the National Assembly last Friday.
Equitable share
The CoB said that only 15 out of the 47 county governments had approved and had their budgets uploaded on the Integrated Financial Management Information System (Ifmis) by August 2.
Until this legal requirement is met, the counties will not be paid their equitable share, she told the PAC session that was chaired by the MP for Ugunja, Mr Opiyo Wandayi.
The Constitution mandates the Controller of Budget to approve withdrawal of all the monies allocated to the national and county governments.
The CoB warned staff at the county governments to refrain from paying suppliers selectively, an act she attributed to corruption.
She insinuated that those who are able to pay kickbacks or are related to counties get priority treatment, leading to a pile-up of pending bills
Facing difficulties
The Member of Parliament for Gatanga, Mr Joseph Ngugi, had demanded that Dr Nyakang’o explain to the House committee the level of compliance with legislation relating to budget making.
The lawmaker posed: “So what happens to the counties, which have not approved their budgets? Why are they facing difficulties in the preparation of their budgets?” BY DAILY NATION