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Meru Senator Kathuri Murungi | PHOTO-Courtesy
By Eastern Correspondent
Meru senator who is also the Senate deputy speaker Kathuri Murungi plans to table a bill to enable MCAs to have direct control of funds.
The County Public Finance Laws amendment Bills 2023 seeks to create a law where county assemblies across the country get autonomy to get their funds directly from the controller of the budget for their ward developments.
Kathuri who spoke to the Press in his offices during the status and budget performance of the Meru County Government during the financial year 2022/2023, castigated Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza for what he termed as low absorption of development funds.
“I am pushing for County Assemblies to have financial autonomy where they are able to apply for their money without going to CEC finance,” he said.
Kathuri said many MCAs have been facing numerous challenges and delays in getting development money from counties as they have to go through requisition and approvals by the CEC of Finance.
“I would like to see MCAs get their budgets directly without involving a long process just like the Members of Parliament get NGCDF through ex-checkers. This Bill will be published this week to ensure MCAs get their finance equally regardless of the rapport between the governor and the MCAs,” he said.
Kathuri said the ward funds will be like the NGCDF, where the MPs get it despite their political differences with the president.
“The governor must distribute development equally in all wards, some wards in Meru are being favored in developments at the expense of others, it’s unfair,” said Kathuri.
Kathuri noted that Senators are in the process of reviving the County Wards Development Fund Bill which was passed by the previous senate but dropped by the parliamentarians in 2021.
“The bill will enable the County Assembly to work independently and enable them to deliver to people who voted them in. I will also table proposal to amend the narcotic and psychotropic amendment bill 2023 to make sure that Miraa is declassified from the drugs category,” he said.
Kathuri said out of the Sh12.6 billion channeled to the Meru Government from the national treasury the Mwangaza administration absorbed 99 percent on recurrent expenditure and only Sh2.2 billion on developments leaving Sh1.4 billion not utilized.
“Meru should pull up their socks and absorb the development money like other counties. I pinpointed that different sectors, especially water and Irrigation had an absorption rate of almost 90 percent. In Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries out of Sh750 million allocated it absorbed Sh580 million, Road, Transport, and Energy the county absorbed 94 percent,” he said.
Kathuri said the Environment and Natural Resources department had done poorly by absorbing only 17 percent of the total allocation while Health utilized 146 million out of Sh525m meaning the absorption rate was 27.8 percent, and Education absorbed 23 percent.
“This is the reason, the auditor general concludes that there is no value for money in these departments,” he said.
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