Ruto signs the County Governments' additional allocations Bill into law

President William Ruto has signed the County Governments Additional Allocations Bill 2022, into law.

The Bill provides the legal framework for the allocation of additional revenue to counties.

It was sponsored by Mandera Senator Ali Ibrahim Roba when it came to the floor of the House for a second time.

According to a Tweet by State House, the funds will come from either proceeds of loans or grants from development partners or from the national government revenue share.

Last month, the Members of Parliament moved to fast-track the passage of the Bill, to unlock the release of Sh43.82 billion in grants for counties.

The County Governments Additional Allocation Bill, 2022 was re-introduced to save programs and projects that were feared to be at risk of stalling.

After the first reading in the Senate, the Bill was committed to the House's Finance and Budget committee for public participation.

"The principal object of this bill is to make provisions for the transfer of conditional allocations from the national government's share of revenue and from development partners to county governments," the bill states.

The bill was first introduced for first reading in the 12th Parliament but the regime ended before it was passed and signed into law by the President.

The bill provides a legal framework for the release of additional funding from the national, proceeds of loans, and development partners to the 47 counties in the current financial year.

Governors have been pleading with Parliament to pass the bill, and release the funds. They raised concerns that several programs and projects funded by grants were a risk of stalling.

Initially, the funds were captured in the Division of Revenue Bill, which divides revenue generated nationally between the national and county governments.