Showdown looms as governors demand answers from Treasury on budget cuts

Council of Governors chairperson and Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi/SCREENGRAB

Tempers are expected to flare as governors sit on Friday in an emergency council meeting to discuss a raft of issues including budget cuts totalling about Sh25 billion.

The county bosses will be seeking answers from the National Treasury after it submitted schedules that had cuts to donor-funded projects.

Speaking in his office on Wednesday, Council of Governors chairperson and Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi said governors will be seeking to convince the Senate to reject the budget cuts approved by MPs to Treasury in the Supplementary Appropriation Bill, 2025.

Abdullahi said the only agreement between CoG and MPs was on the exclusion of the Roads Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF) as it is a subject of an ongoing case.

"So we are asking the Senate not to accept this bill. We are asking the Senate to pass the one that we had agreed. The protracted engagement that happens before we come to this stage of passing laws, we appear before the Senate, and we negotiate with CRA," he said.

In the ongoing case regarding RMLF, governors argue that counties have as much right to access the Roads Maintenance Levy Fund considering they construct roads and it is the same kitty – fuel levy – that caters for the funds.

Ahmed said in the budget schedules issued by Treasury, MPs scrapped RMLF allocation to counties and in the Third Schedule, reduced Kenya Informal Settlements Improvement Project (KISIP) funds from Sh10.4 billion to Sh1.7 billion.

KISIP is a government project aimed at improving living conditions and strengthening the security of tenure in informal settlements in selected Kenyan towns.

The project is implemented in partnership with development partners like the World Bank, AFD (French Development Agency), and SIDA (Swedish International Development Agency).

Its primary goal is to improve the living conditions of people in informal settlements and ensure secure tenure for residents.

Consequently, CoG stated that the Treasury slashed grant funds to the Financing Locally-Led Climate Action (FLLoCA)  from Sh4.9 billion to Sh2.586 billion.

FLLoCA is a programme implemented by the National Treasury in collaboration with county governments, aiming to deliver locally-led climate resilience actions and strengthen capacity to manage climate risks.

Treasury further reduced funding to the Food Systems Resilience Project (FSRP) from Sh2.25 billion to Sh905 million.

FSRP is a government project with co-funding from the World Bank and the national government.

Funding for the National Agricultural Value Chain Development Project (NAVCDP), a community-driven development project in Kenya aimed at increasing market participation and value addition for small-scale farmers across 33 counties, has been reduced from Sh5 billion to Sh1.7 billion.

Water and Sanitation Development Project (WSDP) grant has been reduced from Sh5.7 billion to Sh3.43 billion.

The project aims to improve water and sanitation infrastructure and services in a specific region or country.

On the other hand, funding to the Second Kenya Devolution Support Programme (KDSP II) has been reduced from Sh1.76 billion to Sh1.48 billion.

The Second Kenya Urban Support Programme (KUSP II) had its budget cut from Sh7.6 billion to Sh1.668 billion.

The Kenya Agricultural Business Development Project (KABDP) has also suffered with MPs reducing the donor allocation funds from Sh513 million to just Sh42 million.

The Friday meeting is expected to take a common stand considering some of the matters have been discussed at the highest decision-making organ – the Summit.

The Summit is an apex body for intergovernmental relations that brings both the national and county governments.

It comprises the President as the chairperson and the forty-seven (47) governors.

The chairperson of the Council of Governors is the vice-chair of the Summit.