Kenya Senate Approves Funding Bill in Move to Keep Counties Open
Kenya Senate Approves Funding Bill in Move to Keep Counties Open
Kenya’s senators agreed on legislation allocating money to counties after delaying for months, allaying fears of a funding gap that threatened to paralyze health-care services.
The bill now heads to the National Assembly for debate next week, Makueni county Senator Mutula Kilonzo Jnr said on Friday.
A lack of resources forced some of Kenya’s 47 counties to limit health services to attending to outpatients only, while others stopped their ambulances, threatening the nation’s fight against the coronavirus. The Senate had failed to agree on how funds due to the regional administrations should be shared more than two months into the financial year.
In case of further delays, the National Treasury should disburse to counties 50% of what they received last year, in accordance with a Supreme Court advisory, pending conclusion of the legislation so that there is no funding gap, Kilonzo said.
The Senate will in the meantime move to prepare a cash-disbursement schedule and a revenue-allocation bill for counties, Kilonzo said. The legislation will ultimately be submitted to President Uhuru Kenyatta to sign into law.
READ: Senate Impasse Threatens Kenya’s Virus Response With Funding Gap
Machakos county kept its health facilities open but stopped admitting new patients, Governor Alfred Mutua said by phone Thursday. Nakuru county, currently depending on expensive bank overdrafts to remain open, is set to hold an emergency meeting on the matter Friday.
The East African nation has 36,576 confirmed coronavirus cases and 642 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.