Budget controller clears the air on counties cash

The controller of budget, Ms Agnes Odhiambo, has refuted claims that she declined to disburse funds to counties whose budgets had deficits, as claimed by some counties.

The claims emerged after various budgets were rejected following what was termed as extravagant expenditure.

Addressing a Speakers Forum comprising 47 counties at Amani Beach Resort in Kwale County, Ms Odhiambo said that what she asked for was revision of the budgets since they did not conform with the law.

“There is no budget that is 100 per cent correct. Because of that, the Constitution has given a chance for revision as a way of preparing a supplementary budget,” Ms Odhiambo said.

The controller of budget said she was disappointed by some members of the county assembly who had become proactive yet, reviewing the budgets didn’t mean they were not going to receive cash.

She said that being a strong supporter of devolution, there was no way she would block delivery of funds as she was aware that counties could not move forward without money.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the speaker’s forum, who is also the Speaker of Tana River County, Dr Noor Nassir Abdi, urged governors not to interfere with the budget-making process as it was entirely the responsibility of county assemblies.

“If the governors differ with the budgets, corrections must be done in consultation with the county assembly and not by a certain group of people,” he said.

Mr Noor said this following claims that errors noted in many budgets were caused by governors who tampered with the information without the knowledge of assembly members.

Apart from budgets, the speakers also discussed the issue of a public referendum. They are expected to give a statement on the matter at the end of the forum.