Why Governor Ottichilo wants Exchequer to directly fund assemblies
Vihiga Governor Wilber Ottichilo wants the National Treasury to directly fund county assemblies in a bid to cut audit queries for county Executives.
Vihiga Governor Wilber Ottichilo on Wednesday reignited debate on getting the National Treasury to directly fund county assemblies in a bid to cut audit queries for county executives.
The National Treasury disburses funds to county executives, which then share the allocation with assemblies though the two run separate annual budgets.
Dr Ottichilo said the Council of Governors (CoG) supports the push by the legislative arms to directly receive and manage their own funds without relying on county executives for disbursements.
The County Assemblies Forum (CAF) has pushed to have county assemblies receive funding directly from the Treasury to allow them financial autonomy.
The push started at the advent of devolution in 2013, but it is yet to be implemented, making the legislative arms depend on the executive.
Speaking when he officially opened the third county assembly, Dr Ottichilo said the current structure where assembly funds come through the executive is no longer tenable as it places a heavy audit burden on the executive.
He said as a result, his administration has received adverse audit opinions for helping in funding some of the assembly’s operations.
"CoG supports requests for assemblies to get funds directly from the National Treasury. The current plan where assemblies receive money from the executive has been misconstrued to mean that it is the executive that has the money," Dr Ottichilo said.
Noting that the assembly has its own budget, Dr Ottichilo said the executive has had to use its allocation to fund some of the assembly’s operations, leading to audit queries.
The governor observed that the devolved unit has witnessed "a lot of disharmony" since the inception of devolution, mainly resulting from allocation of resources.
Besides splitting the channel of allocation and disbursement of funds, Dr Ottichilo cited the need to enable consultations on budgeting, legislation and communication.
He told MCAs that a new office of the county assembly liaison officer will be the link between the executive and the House.
"It will create harmonious relations with the assembly and will ensure all assembly communications are handled," said Dr Ottichilo.
Pending bills
He urged the assembly to observe the rule of law and ensure all its communications to the Executive are made by the office of the clerk and addressed to the county secretary.
He also pledged to prioritise payment of pending bills and completion of stalled projects in the 2022/23 financial year.
A supplementary budget reflecting these priorities will be sent to the House for approval, he said.
Vihiga owes suppliers and contractors Sh500 million in historical pending bills and another Sh600 million in new pending bills, placing the debt burden at Sh1.1 billion.
"The National Treasury is of the view that all pending bills must be sorted [out]. We will this financial year focus on payment of pending bills," Dr Ottichilo said.
