This archive report was first published on 16 July 2019.
On July 15, 2019, a group of governors, senators, and MCAs marched to the Supreme Court in Nairobi to file a petition seeking the court's advisory opinion on how to share revenue from the national government among the 47 counties.
The dispute centers around Sh310 billion allocated to counties, with the Senate proposing Sh335 billion and the National Assembly approving Sh316 billion. A mediation committee had settled on Sh327 billion, but the Council of Governors (CoG) claims the Treasury has refused to release the funds.
CoG Chairman Wycliffe Oparanya led the group of over 25 governors to the Supreme Court, where they presented their petition and declared they would not sit back as MPs cripple operations in counties.
“It is devolution which is under attack given that very few counties have managed to pass their budgets without the funds. We tried mediation, but it collapsed leaving us with no option after the National Assembly decided to desert us and go on recess without a solution,” said Oparanya.
The governors have raised 25 key questions they want the Supreme Court to determine, including whether bills passed by the National Assembly on devolved functions without the Senate's input are constitutional.
Lawyers Issa Mansur and Peter Wanyama argued that the governors have been reduced to bystanders as the national government splashes billions of shillings on projects in their counties while refusing to release money for the counties' development projects.
“This matter is urgent as it cripples operations of counties. The people want services, but this is not possible without financial support. At present, devolution is dying as the national government is not committed to implementing it at all,” said Mansur.
Deputy registrar Daniel Ole Keiwua certified the application as urgent, and it will be heard on Friday.
