Counties stare at total paralysis after cash crisis talks abort, again
SEE ALSO :Talks on county money end as MPs shout at each other
Senators Margaret Kamar (Uasin Gishu), Johnson Sakaja (Nairobi), Mithika Linturi (Meru), Charles Kibiru (Kirinyaga), Mutula Kilonzo Jnr (Makueni), Ledama ole kina (Narok) and Rose Nyamunga (nominated) skipped the sitting with apologies. But National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale, his minority counterpart John Mbadi and Minority Whip Junet Mohamed hit out at the senators for frustrating the talks. Duale said it was not ordinary that seven out of nine senators were engaged elsewhere when they were aware of the sitting.For More of This and Other Stories, Grab Your Copy of the Standard Newspaper.
Mbadi expressed frustrations at the turn of events and accused the Senate of not showing the seriousness required to end the standoff. Senator Mahamud, however, defended his team, disclosing that he had reached out to Duale to have the sitting postponed to next Tuesday since some of his colleagues were abroad while others were engaged locally. But the team’s chairman Kimani Ichung'wa said there was no way they could postpone the sitting through phone calls as it was against the Standing Orders of Parliament. The cash crisis in the 47 counties has sparked strikes over salary delays, with the Council of Governors now pushing for small disbursements as the two Houses seek a solution. In last week’s sitting that collapsed after the two sides engaged in a shouting contest, National Assembly stuck to the Sh316.5 billion it had proposed during the previous mediation while Senate insisted on Sh335 billion for the devolved units. The stalemate continued amid report that the counties failed to spend Sh85.6 billion out of Sh314 billion allocated in the last financial year. The 47 counties had only spent Sh228.4 billion by the end of the 2018/19 financial year, according to a document prepared by Treasury.Do not miss out on the latest news. Join the Standard Digital Telegram channel HERE.
