Government working towards resolving remittances to Counties – Mudavadi
Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Shariff Nassir
By Michael Kimengtich
Worth Noting:
- Acknowledging that it had been a hard struggle in the counties, Mudavadi pointed out that all is not to be blamed on the current administration as they have to deal with a spill-over of pending bills and debts from the previous regime of the handshake.
- “I want to assure Kenyans that as the national government we are working towards resolving that issue, not just in dealing with what is outstanding but to look at a process that will be smoother and ensure county governments get their resources on time.” Mudavadi said even as he pointed out that the steps being taken towards resolving a few teething issues facing the full realization and functioning of the devolved units are a spill over to some acts of omission and commission from the previous regime.
Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has assured County governments of a fast-tracked process of releasing monies owed to the devolved units to ensure service delivery in counties is not affected further.
Speaking in Mombasa County during a joint media briefing after a discussion with Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Shariff Nassir, The Prime Minister who is among the top leadership in the Kenya Kwanza executive assured county governments of light at the end of the tunnel.
“We truly believe in devolution. Devolution has made a big difference in our country. As we deal with the teething problems that come when this new process is coming into place, we want to re-affirm that as a national government we cannot go backwards on the aspect of devolution.” said Mudavadi
Mudavadi says the delay in the remittances to the county governments in the context of the national revenue sharing mechanism is top on the agenda of discussions that aims at strengthening the working relationships between the National Government and county governments moving forward.
“Not long ago, President William Ruto held a meeting with all the governors in Naivasha. It has been and it remains the President’s desire that we shall eventually smoothen the process of releasing funds to the counties. It will be accelerated and speeded up so that the delays we have experienced will in due course become something of the past.” added Mudavadi.
Acknowledging that it had been a hard struggle in the counties, Mudavadi pointed out that all is not to be blamed on the current administration as they have to deal with a spill-over of pending bills and debts from the previous regime of the handshake.
“I want to assure Kenyans that as the national government we are working towards resolving that issue, not just in dealing with what is outstanding but to look at a process that will be smoother and ensure county governments get their resources on time.” Mudavadi said even as he pointed out that the steps being taken towards resolving a few teething issues facing the full realization and functioning of the devolved units are a spill over to some acts of omission and commission from the previous regime.
“The crisis Kenya is facing is much bigger than what we may imagine. The commitments that the Kenyan government entered into very demanding commitments to the people of Kenya which are not about to run away from but which we have to deal with. They are commitments which were entered into by the previous regime. But remember government is a government in perpetuity. When sovereign commitments are made it is the responsibility of the government to tackle those sovereign commitments. Some of them are unpleasant they are painful but they were made. And on one of the programs that the previous government entered into (SGR PROJECT) the demand is that every January there has to be a payment of Ksh 40 billion and similarly in July totaling to 80 billion shilling or thereabout annually on one commitment. These are commitments that have a primary charge on the consolidated fund so you cannot run away from such commitments. They also have an impact on the rest of the economy and we must rationalize a lot of things as we move forward. There is a big challenge and we need to know that we are coming from an all-time loan and we must build our way upwards going to the future.” Pointed out Mudavadi
“This is an issue that is being discussed jointly with the National Treasury and sooner rather than later we are going to make a more detailed pronouncement on how we intent to solve this problem. We are not happy that there is a delay and we intend to solve that particular issue since it is putting a lot of pressure on County government.” said Mudavadi.
Lauding the political stand that has been demonstrated by the leadership of Mombasa County led by Governor Abdulswamad Shariff Nassir, Mudavadi cautioned against disrupting the economy especially of key gateway towns and counties saying it will negatively affect supply chains in the business environment even now that the dollar pressure against the shilling is biting hard in the country.
“I commend the Governor for Mombasa. He has done us proud to moderate political temperatures in the county at this time. Mombasa being the gateway to Kenya and the entire region, an aspect of political stability is key. This is because Mombasa is a critical beacon in stabilizing the economy of Kenya and the region.” said Mudavadi.
“I want to send a very critical message to the people of Kenya that we cannot afford to disrupt the economy and that’s why I am here to demonstrate solidarity with the governor, election cycles have their constitutional timings, we have just come out of it six months ago, we need now to move forward as a nation and we cannot keep on going back to an issue that has been canvased up to the highest court of the land and dealt with fully.”
Mudavadi further called out on the Azimio leaders who are inciting Kenyans on grounds of political persuasions reprimanding them to have lost integrity and good values for leadership.
Mudavadi says Kenya remains a Unitary State, the leadership is firm and Kenya will not disintegrate on the basis of calls by a few individuals who want to satisfy their personal gains over the better good for the country.
“Kenya remains to be a Unitary State, but we embrace devolution in accordance with the constitution. We cannot have two governments. We want to tell our leaders in other quarters please be responsible, why are you cheating people that you can create a second government in Kenya. Why do you make such reckless statements, yet you know very well and you can see that in our neighbouring country there is already a conflict in Sudan which has flared out.” Warned Mudavadi.
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