Civil servants working for the 47 county governments have been dealt a major blow after the Council of Governors announced a delay for the July salaries over the ongoing conflict that has halted the passage of the Division of Revenue Bill.
Bad news for civil servants after directive on delay of July salaries
Landlords asked to understand that "times ahead will be tough"
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CoG Chairman Wycliffe Oparanya said the failure of the National Assembly and the Senate to come up with consensus to facilitate the speedy passage of the revenue bill would mean that counties would wait longer to receive funds from the National Treasury.
“Following the collapse of mediation of the Division of Revenue Bill between the National Assembly and the Senate, it is apparent that County Governments will be unable to pay salaries and service providers in good time as monies will not be disbursed by the National Treasury,” he said.
Governors have been advised to utilize their internal revenue collection as they await resolution of the stalemate, but Oparanya said CoG had resolved not to resort to the county revenue collections as not all the counties collect funds that can pay salaries.
“This is not an option we can fall back to because it will disadvantage other Counties and by extension citizens who receive services in these Counties,” the Kakamega Governor said.
Tough Times Ahead
Oparanya pleaded with unions, banks, and private sector players such as landlords to accommodate county government employees who will face “tough times” in the days to come.
Many civil servants use their salaries to seek loans for their personal development and delay of the same would mean delays in repayments.
“We wish to alert all unions, Private Sector, Citizens, who receive services from County governments and employees in the County Governments to note that the times ahead will be tough”.
“We urge banks not to penalize employees for late or failure to service their standing orders in time. We also ask landlords to note this crisis and extend time for payment of rent as we seek to resolve the issue,” the CoG Chair said.
Civil servants working for the National Government, however, will not be affected as President Uhuru Kenyatta had authorised Treasury to release funds to assist ministries pay their bills until the revenue bill is passed.
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