Matungu MP Wants Treasury to Declare Kenya Bankrupt

Matungu Lawmaker Oscar Nabulindo has stated that it is tiresome to run the country with no funding, calling on Treasury CS Njuguna Ndungu to declare the country bankrupt.  

Speaking on Tuesday, the MP said that the delay in the allotment of funds strained county operations, further denying Mps funds to implement projects. He added that needy students in most constituencies are bearing the brunt of the delay as they are yet to receive bursaries. To evade a possible shutdown, the MP wants Ndung'u to release the funds to counties. Matungu suggests that the country is bankrupt because the state cannot “fund CDF, they cannot pay salaries, they cannot pay MPs, they cannot pay parliamentary staff, they cannot pay public servants and now the counties are closing down”

He lamented that the government has not allocated money for CDF for the current financial year thus stalling a lot of projects and delaying bursary issuance. He added that the government disburses funds to the county in a way that does not help. On April 24, Council of Governors chairperson Anne Waiguru made similar remarks saying counties will shut down over the delay of funds. 

Waiguru while speaking at a meeting with fellow governors said devolution is on the brink of collapse, blaming the national government for the situation. She decried that counties had not received funding for four months. In a separate meeting between the governors and the national treasury, Waiguru asserted the need for the treasury to make the disbursements in two trenches to avert the collapse of county function. 

"The Council of Governors hereby issues a 14 days notice to shutdown counties in February, March and April arrears are not released within two weeks," Waiguru said. 

She said they had resolved to disburse the March allocation by May 15, 2023, and the April allocation at the end of May. She added that allocation for May and June will be issued within the first two weeks of June.