County governments are having to cope with a biting cash crunch for the fourth straight month occasioned by delayed Treasury disbursements.
Development projects have also ground to a halt in most of the devolved units as funds for contractors fizzle out, translating into job losses for construction workers as well.
The Treasury, which should ordinarily release the funds by the 15th day of every month, blames the delay on contradictions between the disbursement schedule and the Allocation Bill recently passed by Parliament.
And because of that discrepancy, hundreds of thousands of destitute workers and contractors, who are already facing actions for defaulting on loan repayments, may have to wait for two more weeks for their pay as the bureaucratic wheel of the national government turns.
Delays in disbursement of the county funds were excusable in the first year of roll out of the devolved governance system when the so-called teething problems were evident.
There isn’t a good enough reason why the Treasury hasn’t gotten its act together four years down the line.
The Constitution stipulates that 15 per cent of the previous fiscal year’s budget should be set aside for the counties. That means that there should always be enough money to run essential services in counties.
Getting county funding on time is crucial to ensuring that devolution succeeds.
PAYE Tax Calculator
Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
