This archive report was first published on 2 August 2019.
Published on August 2, 2019, the standoff between the national and county governments over revenue allocation has reached a stalemate. The Treasury has insisted on its Sh316 billion offer, despite the Senate's approval of Sh335 billion and a mediation committee's settlement on Sh327 billion.
On Wednesday, governors met with Treasury officials, led by Acting CS Ukur Yatani, and later met with Speakers Justin Muturi (National Assembly) and Ken Lusaka (Senate). Council of Governors (CoG) chairman Wycliffe Oparanya (Kakamega) and his deputy Mwangi Wa Iria (Murang'a) announced that good progress had been made to end the budget allocation standoff.
However, Mr. Yatani stated that the position of the Treasury had not changed and ruled out further talks with the governors on the matter. The talks were prompted by an advisory from Supreme Court judges, who referred the dispute to Parliament and gave the two Speakers 14 days to file a response on the status of their talks.
Chief Justice David Maraga urged the two Houses to resolve the issue amicably, stating, 'We are cognizant of the impending constitutional crisis created by the dispute, but being alive to the need for separation of powers, we urge the two Houses to resolve the issue amicably.'
The National Assembly had asked the court for 45 days to publish and debate a new Division of Revenue Bill, but the governors insisted that the hearing should proceed because mediation talks had failed.
