Governors raise alarm over revenue sharing stalemate

The Council of Governors (COG) says recent talks on revenue sharing with the stakeholders from the National Government have stalled.

This comes weeks after a taskforce comprising COG members and representatives from the National Treasury and Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) was formed to look into the issue.

 In a statement by COG Chairperson Governor Anne Waiguru, the council is now asking the national government to reconsider its position on sufficient funding of devolution.

“The Council of Governors declares a stalemate on the discussions around vertical sharing of revenue. This follows retained divergent positions on proposed figures for shareable revenue,” the statement reads.

 “COG urges the National Government to reconsider their position to sufficiently fund Counties to allow them to execute their mandate and ensure efficient service delivery on their assigned functions.”

Waiguru says the discussions on how to share the national cake have been presented to the Intergovernmental Budget and Economic Council (IBEC) chaired by the Deputy President, but still no consensus has been reached.

The council discloses that the three parties retained divergent positions on their proposed figures for shareable revenue: Sh391 billion as proposed by the National Treasury, Sh398.14 billion by the CRA and Sh439.5 billion by the Council of Governors as equitable share to Counties and an additional Sh10.52 billion as Road Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF).

 However, on January 29, IBEC resolved to have the issue discussed by the joint taskforce, to reach a consensus on how to share the revenue but the three parties have each held onto the figures proposed individually.

Therefore, the COG is crying foul, claiming that the delay will affect the disbursement of the Housing Levy, compliance with the new Social Health Fund and have also expressed fears of inflation effects occasioned by the weakening shilling.