Governors from all 47 counties in Kenya are protesting the delay in the disbursement of equitable revenue funds to their counties.

The Council of Governors (CoG) chairperson, Anne Waiguru wrote in a letter addressed to Treasure Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u that the treasury owes the county governments Sh92 billion for the 2022/2023 financial year.

In the same letter, Waiguru outlined that the treasury owes all 47 counties Sh29.6 billion for December 2022, Sh31.45 billion for January, 2023 and Sh31.45 billion for February 2023.

Waiguru faulted the Treasury for delaying the funds and said it was not justifiable and also went against the Public Finance Management Act, which requires the funds to be disbursed promptly.

She expressed her concerns about county operations halting, as they cannot pay their bills, salaries and offer basic services, which puts the governors in tight spots.

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He appealed to the Treasury to expedite the disbursement of the funds to guarantee continued service delivery in the counties.

The crisis was highlighted during the three-day Lake Region Economic Bloc (LREB) summit the governors attended in Migori County.

Migori County Governor Ochilo Ayacko echoed Waiguru’s sentiments, saying county governments were struggling to offer quality healthcare, pay pending bills and pay workers.

“We’re grappling with the challenges of providing affordable and quality healthcare, paying pending bills...workers can’t be paid. When you hear that counties do not spend on development, how do you spend on development yet there is no money?” Ayacko questioned.

“Let’s just face reality as a nation and agree we’re either broke or the national government does not want to support devolution.”

Kisii Governor Simba Arati said devolution will fail without money and counties were likely to collapse because of that.

“Is the government serious? Devolution will not work if there is no money. I don’t think devolution will work because many don’t know that counties have not received any money...counties will collapse,” Arati said.