Kenya: Another battle between the MPs and governors looms after the legislators yesterday told Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich to allocate the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) an additional Sh15 billion.
The MPs want Mr Rotich to get the money from the allocation that will be given to counties in the next financial year.
The move comes a day after the National Assembly passed a bill stripping the governors the luxury of flying miniature flags on their official cars, having sirens on their motorcades and using the title of 'Excellency'.
In the bill, it will also be illegal for the Members of the County Assemblies (MCAs) to refer to themselves as “honourable”.
Making their demand, the MPs accused the governors of misusing billions of shillings given to them, and by so doing, they (MPs) would be cautioning the misuse.
The demand by the members of the Budget and Appropriations Committee is likely to threaten a deal brokered days ago between the Deputy President William Ruto, Rotich and the Council of Governors that Sh258 billion be sent to counties as shareable revenue and Sh25 billion as conditional grants for hospitals.
The MPs said they will have to reduce the cash earmarked for the governors in the Division of Revenue Bill, 2014, when it is published and submitted to the House for review.
In a meeting with officials from the national Treasury, the MPs said the extra cash will help revamp the neglected Government projects in the constituencies and to also fight poverty.
Committee Chairman Mutava Musyimi said the governors had failed to honour the conditions in the current budget to build polytechnics and to revamp the jua kali sheds put up using money from the economic stimulus package.
“You will have to get Sh15 billion from somewhere for these strategic interventions,” Mr Musyimi told the Treasury officials.
He said governors had neglected county polytechnics despite the running of the institutions being their mandate.
“We may have to get the money that was given to the governors and take some of it for youth polytechnics," he said.
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