A bold member of Team Tangatanga aligned to the Deputy President William Ruto and also the Senate Speaker Ken Lusaka has offered a perfect solution to counties financial problems.
Speaker Ken Lusaka has challenged the counties under leadership of different governors to increase revenue collection in order to drive counties development agenda.
Addressing delegates at the opening of the Fourth Annual Devolution Legislative Summit in Kisumu yesterday, Lusaka said gains in county revenue collection was unbalanced and devolved units needed to double efforts.
“I want to encourage County governments to work towards self-sustainability. It may not work overnight but it is viable,” he said, insisting it will greatly reduce the problem of pending bills.
He said Kenyans voted for devolution to bridge the development gap caused by the inequalities in allocation of resources and thus counties should prioritize development needs.
“As the Senate, we continue to make strides in providing an enabling legislative environment for effective and efficient operations of counties,” the Speaker said, “We are keen to pursue appropriate legislative proposals and interventions to address some of the concerns and gaps identified that impact implementation of devolution.” According to the National Treasury, counties’ revenue potential stands at Sh124.7 billion annually.
This sentiments by Ken Lusaka come at the time when different MCAs attending the forum continue pushing for money from the national government.