Wajir – A sharp standoff has erupted between the Council of Governors and the Controller of Budget over delays in disbursing critical county funds, with the Wajir Governor openly accusing the controller of sabotaging devolved services.
COG Ahmed Abdullahi expressed deep frustration, stating that he is unable to release Sh130 million earmarked for school bursaries before the end of June because of what he described as deliberate bureaucratic roadblocks.
“We want to pay this money. I have, I think, about Sh130 million which I have to disburse between now and end of June for Bursaries,” Governor Abdullahi said during a press briefing Monday.
Despite intergovernmental agreements already signed with the Ministry of Education, Abdullahi claims the Controller of Budget has refused to approve the payments. He accused her of imposing unreasonable demands that are hindering counties from accessing their rightful share of national funds.
“The controller has become difficult. She has become intransigent. She has become unreasonable extremely unreasonable,” he said, calling her actions a direct threat to Kenya’s devolution process.
The governor criticized what he called a discriminatory system, where county governments are forced to physically deliver invoices, contracts, and receipts from far-flung regions such as Wajir to the Controller’s Nairobi office, only to wait weeks for approvals.
“Why do we have to carry invoices and queue in her office for weeks to access money? I do not understand. This is hell that every county government has been taken through,” Abdullahi stated.
According to the governor, counties currently access only 9% of the national budget, a fraction he says is too small to meet the needs of local populations. He argued that delays in accessing these funds have crippled essential services like education, especially for vulnerable children relying on bursaries.
“We can’t pay fees for children who need to be kept in school because some government bureaucrat somewhere is making life difficult for everybody in the chain,” he lamented.
President William Ruto has previously affirmed his support for devolution and called for smooth disbursement of funds to counties. However, Abdullahi said the Controller’s actions contradict the President’s stance.
Frustrated by what he termed as “systemic sabotage,” Abdullahi warned of impending legal and political action against the Controller.
“We want to send a warning to her that as a council, we are now willing to go legal. We are willing to petition the houses of parliament for her removal because she has made life impossible for the average Kenyan to access county services.”
This confrontation highlights a growing crisis in Kenya’s devolved financial structure. Counties have frequently complained of delays in disbursements and excessive scrutiny from the national government. The Controller of Budget’s office, which is mandated to oversee withdrawals from public funds, has not yet responded publicly to the allegations.
The Council of Governors is expected to convene a special session to discuss the matter, with mounting pressure to escalate the issue to both houses of Parliament.
This standoff raises urgent questions about the effectiveness of devolution in Kenya, particularly when administrative bottlenecks continue to obstruct basic services meant for the country’s most vulnerable citizens.
