Governors Hold Crisis Meeting Amid Escalating Wars with National Govt After Snubbing DP’s Invitation
The Council of Governors has called a crisis meeting on Thursday, February 22, to discuss the conflict between county governments and the national government over devolved functions.
While announcing the emergency meeting, county leaders stated that the national government appears to be encroaching on some devolved functions.
According to reports, 18 governors will attend the meeting to discuss the next steps in the escalating dispute.
The governors have claimed that the national government has used deceptive tactics and quoted different figures for specific functions such as health, housing, and trade.
In the escalating feud, all of the governors refused to attend a launch at the Deputy President’s home on Friday, where Gachagua presided over the Stipend Payment of the County Health Promoters Programme (CHPs).
It is claimed that all of the governors declined the invitation, even after requests were made to have them arrive at the launch later in the day.
According to the governors, the stipend will generate more than Ksh250 million in payments to county workers, an amount that they consider exaggerated.
According to the counties, they are opposed to an allocation of Ksh3 billion to county governments for the payment, which came after the DP requested that the Treasury release funds to support the payments.
“The severity of these transgressions is escalating daily through direct budget support for the devolved functions channelled through National Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies at the counties and deliberate use of members of parliament to roll out these programmes disregarding constitutional roles of counties,” read a statement issued by the Council of Governors.
Furthermore, the governors have expressed concern about the national government’s failure to allocate funds to the counties, citing the roles that the national government has taken on, such as housing and health promotion.
In addition to the allegations of exaggerated quoted amounts, the governors have criticised the National Assembly, claiming that MPs are being used to launch and drive projects within the county governments’ mandate.
The meeting is expected to address the aforementioned issues and discuss the county chiefs’ next steps.
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Governors Hold Crisis Meeting Amid Escalating Wars with National Govt After Snubbing DP’s Invitation
