Marsabit County governor Mahmoud Ali. The county has said that the delay in salary has been caused by late disbursement of county funds by the National Treasury. Photo: Mahmoud Ali X.
Marsabit County Government Spokesperson Barille Abduba has started that the recently delay in salaries has been caused by late disbursement of funds by the National Treasury to counties.
County workers have not received their salaries for two months, acknowledging the delays, Abduba called on the workers to exercise patience, as the issue is sorted.
“The delayed in payment of county workers has been caused by late disbursement of county funds by the National Treasury at the correct time, has affected payment of salaries of for two months now,” Abduba confirmed.
He assured the workers that the county is following up on the issue, to ensure that the worker are paid all the accumulated salaries, without further delays in the future. He however, he clarified that the issue is not only affecting Marsabit, but all other counties in the country.
“The issue is not isolated to Marsabit County only, other counties have also been affected, but the issues is currently underway, once the issue done, salaries will be paid on time. However, as a county we sometimes pay salaries from our revenue, if the disbursement delays. But as at the moment our hands are tired as it is beyond our mandate,” he explained.
He further stated that the delay by the National Treasury has paralyzed activities in county governments, in which county governors had threatened to shut down counties, if the funds are not released.
“We call on government to release funds on time, as it largely affects the operationalization of the county services, and sometimes functions be closed down. As government workers receive their salaries on time so should be county workers,” he further urged.
Earlier the National Assembly and the Senate had differed on the funds allocated to county governments, but the conflict has so far been solved, with the National Treasury expected to release KSh 415 billion to county governments.
The clarification comes days after he confirmed that all interns in the county will receive their accumulated renumerations, despite finishing their internship period.
Abduba said that the delay was caused after the County Assembly placed the funds meant to pay interns to development funds that was rejected by the Controller of Budget, who said that development money cannot be used to pay salaries, but the stalemate had been solved and approved by County Assembly.
