Council of Governors Chairperson Ahmed Abdullahi has urged the national government to urgently resolve technical challenges affecting county financial systems, warning that administrative bottlenecks could prevent counties from spending funds that are already available.
Abdullahi said counties were facing challenges linked to the transition into the new financial year, including issues with IFMIS, e-GP and the integration between IFMIS and Kenya Revenue Authority systems.
“There are certain challenges around the process issues with respect to IFMIS loading, with respect to e-GP, with respect to the integration between IFMIS and the KRA systems,” he said.
Speaking during the 30th Intergovernmental Budget and Economic Council (IBEC) meeting in Nairobi, Abdullahi said governors had raised concerns over the changes and that consultations were already underway to find solutions.
He said county officials would meet Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi and his technical team to discuss the concerns and seek a resolution.
“We'll meet with CS Treasury and his technical team at Treasury, who are pushing these changes, and we'll share our concerns and hopefully get solutions,” Abdullahi said.
He directed the Council of Governors chief executive officer to prepare a one-page brief outlining the outstanding issues to facilitate discussions with Treasury.
The governor said the matter was particularly urgent because the current financial year is a critical one for counties, with many governors serving their final year in office ahead of the 2027 General Election.
“This is a very, very critical year because it's the final year for a lot of governors here, and it's also an election year,” he said.
Abdullahi welcomed the national government’s release of funds to counties, crediting Treasury CS Mbadi for disbursing allocations for July and August.
“CS Mbadi has done very well. I agree with you. He has done extremely well because as of today, he has disbursed July and August. It has never happened,” he said.
However, he warned that releasing funds would have little impact if technical problems prevented the money from reaching intended beneficiaries.
“So if we release the money, let the money reach the common man,” he said.
Abdullahi cautioned against introducing changes to financial systems without ensuring they work seamlessly, saying disruptions could leave counties unable to spend their allocations.
“We don't want to try new things that will start causing problems in the system, but if they can be done seamlessly, I know all these things are well intended,” he added.
He warned that counties could reach the end of the first quarter without spending their allocations despite having received the funds.
“It will be sad that at the end of Q1, counties will not have spent money yet. The money was available,” Abdullahi said.
“Usually, the excuse is there is no money to spend. So, if the money is there to spend, let's not fail to spend on account of technicalities.”
Abdullahi said the outstanding issues should be resolved before the Council of Governors Summit scheduled for September 7.
He reaffirmed the governors’ commitment to working with the national government through IBEC to resolve administrative challenges affecting devolution.