Oparanya slammed for threatening to shut Senate

 

Some senators have accused governors of frustrating the fight for equality in the revenue-sharing formula for counties.

Council of Governors chairman Wycliffe Oparanya gave the Senate two weeks to resolve the stalemate on the third basis for revenue-sharing or he would file a petition to dissolve the House.

Oparanya further threatened to shut down county services if a mutual agreement is not reached within the stated duration.

But led by Isiolo nominated Senator Abshiro Halake, the senators condemned Oparanya’s threats and cautioned governors against politicising the matter.

“If a whole CoG chairman can say such words, looking at the fact that this is a very technical issue, it clearly indicates that the governors have become the weak link,” she said.

She spoke on Friday at Kwale county headquarters in Matuga.

Halake warned that history would judge the county bosses harshly for letting down devolution.

She said they are expected to be at the forefront of fighting for equality in national resources allocation.

The lawmakers said they supported devolution and would want to see each county funded fairly.

Mombasa Senator Mohammed Faki said Coast counties joined colleagues opposing the new cash formula, saying they won’t accept a system that promotes inequality in Kenya.

“As senators, we are going to make sure that funds coming to counties are not reduced but added to enhance fairness in development,” he said.

He said a lot has been achieved under the devolution and limiting the shared cash would affect the county operations.

Faki said the problem of revenue-sharing was not strange and accused the governors of impatience.

He said the law allows the counties to be given 50 per cent of the total budget given in the previous financial year to sustain their undertakings while the Senate works to find an amicable solution on the suggested formula.

“The Senate Speaker through the clerk wrote to Finance CS Ukur Yatani to give counties half of what they got in the previous year, to cushion them until the law is passed,” he said.

The Mombasa senator said governors should blame the national government for the delay of the disbursement of funds, saying the Senate has no power to hold them back.

Governor Salim Mvurya said it was unfortunate for counties that had only benefited in the last seven years of devolution to be compared with the already established regions.

He criticised the Equalisation Fund, saying it has little impact on counties.

“The Equalization Fund is a drop in the ocean because for the years that we have been in power no single county has benefited from it,” he said.

Mvurya, however, defended Oparanya saying the government ignored a Supreme Court directive of giving counties half the money while the debate on CRA formula continued.

He said the governors had done their best to run the counties and the delay to disburse the funds was hurting smooth delivery of services.