COUNCIL

OF GOVERNORS

REMARKS FOR H.E. HON. FCPA WYCLIFFE AMBETSA OPARANYA,
EGH, CGJ, CHAIRMAN COUNCIL OF GOVERNORS
MONDAY, 15TH JULY, 2019 AT KICC, NAIROBI

Fellow Excellency Governors,
Hon. Senators,
Hon. Members of the County Assemblies,
Civil Society partners,
The media,
Invited Guests

1. Good Morning! On behalf of my fellow Governors, I thank you
all for being here today. You are true devolution champions.

2. As you are aware, the Division of Revenue Bill, 2019 was
subjected to mediation following lack of consensus between
the Senate and the National Assembly with regards to the
County Governments’ equitable share. The National Assembly
initially proposed KES 310 billion for Counties, and later moved
the figure to KES 316 billion during mediation. The Senate
conceded downwards from KES 335 billion to KES 327 billion.
With the two different positions of the National Assembly and
the Senate, the negotiations collapsed. Today marks the 3rd
week into the new Financial Year 2019/20 without an
agreement on this stalemate.

3. Over the last six (6) years, we have witnessed onslaughts on
devolution. In the first term of County Governments, we saw
devolution being undermined through formulation and
1

 enactment of centralist policies and laws. The Council sought
judicial intervention severally to declare some laws
unconstitutional since they weakened devolution. In this
second term, devolved governance is being attacked by
denying County Governments their much needed resources.
The National Treasury continues to hold Counties hostage by
always deviating from the Commission on Revenue Allocation
(CRA) recommendations and by constantly delaying
disbursement of funds to Counties.

4. It is for this reason that the Council of Governors has today
resorted to seek the intervention of the Supreme Court in
various issues, among others:
i. The consequences of failure by the National Assembly
and Senate to agree on a version of the Division of
Revenue Bill within the context of Article 113 of the
Constitution;
ii. Whether such failure triggers a vote on account within
the meaning of Article 222 of the Constitution; and
iii. Whether the National Assembly can lawfully consider and
pass the Appropriation Act without finalization of the
Division of Revenue Bill.

5. As I conclude, the Council of Governors implores upon all
citizens to rally around this call to save devolution. Kenyans
voted for a new Constitution so that resources could find their
way to the lowest levels and so that livelihoods could be
transformed through better services. This promise is under
threat and we must rise up to protect the ideals enshrined in
our Constitution. Devolution is working and no efforts to
derail its existence will prevail.


H.E. Hon. FCPA Wycliffe Ambetsa Oparanya, EGH, CGJ
Chairman, Council of Governors
2