The Council of Governors (COG) has announced that all counties will be shut down on September 16 due to lack of funds. COG chair Wycliffe Oparanya said that they will make the drastic move due to the stalemate on the Division of Revenue bill.
GOVERNORS TO shutdown counties from September 16 if the Division of Revenue bill impasse is not resolved, CoG chair Wycliffe Oparanya announces. pic.twitter.com/JJvwswzNSV
— NationBreakingNews (@NationBreaking) August 29, 2019
Oparanya said that counties will be unable to pay their employees if the impasse continues.
“The County Governments will not be able to pay salaries at end of this month going forward. Beyond, the 16th of September 2019, if the matter is not resolved the County Governments will have no option but to shut down,” Oparanya said through a statement sent to newsrooms.
This decision came after the county bosses lead by Oparanya and vice-chair Mwangi wa Iria, had lodged a petition against the government over the bill in July 2015.
The case had been presented to the Supreme Court in a bid to overturn the decision that had been made by the Senate and the National Assembly.
The two houses have differed over the amount of money to be allocated to the counties.
While the National Assembly has stuck to a Ksh.316.5 billion allocation to counties, the Senate insists the devolved units should be handed Ksh.335.6 billion.