Rutto accuses the Treasury of frustrating devolution

By Edwin Makiche

Bomet, Kenya: Bomet Governor Isaac Rutto has accused the national Treasury of frustrating the devolution process.

He said it is tampering with the budgetary allocations of county governments without the consent of governors.

Pointing out a case where Bomet’s allocation was reduced to Sh3.1 billion down from Sh4.6 billion initially allocated by the Commission for Revenue Allocation (SRC), Rutto accused the treasury of making a unilateral decision that would ground the operations of county governments and render them unable to deliver on their mandate.

Rutto, who is the chairman of the Governors Summit, said most county governments had already budgeted for the initial amounts adding that with the revised figure, most of the governors found themselves at cross roads.

“I want to sound a strong warning to the Treasury that we are in a new dispensation where financial matters are not decided by the central government without consulting the heads of the respective county governments. We want to urge them (the Treasury) to strictly go by the allocations given to them by the Sarah Serem Commission,” he said.

Rutto said he learnt of the revised allocations Monday, and he accused the Treasury of exhibiting double standards.

He was speaking Monday during the swearing-in of county executive committee members in Bomet.