The Treasury has proposed tough terms for releasing additional funding to counties or conditional allocations in a bid to curb wastage.
The draft regulations showed that the exchequer and the devolved units would be required to sign intergovernmental agreements for the transfer of the extra funds.
They would also be tied to a cash allocation framework detailing projects to be supported, execution timelines, variations, and progress reporting.
“The National Treasury shall be responsible for the conditional allocation transfer upon receipt of written instructions from the accounting officer of the relevant ministries, departments, and agencies authenticating the disbursement of the transfer in accordance with the disbursement schedules,” reads the draft.
“The conditional allocation shall not be used for any other purpose apart from what is agreed in the conditional allocations framework.”
Conditional allocations to county governments are over and above the equitable share of revenue.
Total transfers to counties consist of equitable share and conditional grants from the national government’s share of revenue, loans and grants from development partners.
County governments shall be required to provide regular reports to ministries, departments, and agencies on project progress.
Units that fail to comply may have their funding reduced, suspended, or stopped while the exchequer may require a refund.
According to budget estimates for the 2023/24 fiscal year, conditional allocations to counties are estimated to grow to Sh44.3 billion from Sh16.2 billion previously.
