In a statement, the council,
through its chair and Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru, noted that the budgetary
allocation proposed by the National Treasury and the Commission on Revenue
Allocation (CRA) fails to sufficiently address county needs.
The council wants the new Social
Health Insurance Fund (SHIF), National Social Security Fund (NSSF), and the
suspended housing levy, to be factored in the new formulae, arguing that they
are subjected to the deductions like any other employer.
CoG has in the past weeks
engaged with members from the National Treasury and the Commission for Revenue
Authority (CRA) in a task force formed to deliberate the way forward.
“We note with concern that after
lengthy discussions and analysis of the recommendations by the task team
maintain divergent positions on their proposed figures for sharable revenue,”
the council through its chairperson Anne Waiguru stated.
The government in new
directives, will deduct 2.75 per cent under the SHIF program and 1.5
per cent of the gross pay, with the employer contributing a similar amount, for
the housing levy deductions, with the latter pending the determination of a
court case.
The council proposed Ksh41
billion more than the Treasury’s proposal, which is Ksh398.14 billion while the
CRA proposed Ksh391 billion.
“We urge our proposal of Ksh450
billion to counties be adopted,” the communique by CoG read.
Further defending the budget,
CoG argued that the provision for an allocation towards county employees’
annual salary increment cost was necessary, and so was a commensurate
adjustment for revenue growth.
Other reasons cited include the
need to ensure county governments are cushioned from the rising cost of
inflation across various devolved sectors and the rising operations and
maintenance costs.
The Kenyan DAILY POST.
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