Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has defended the National Treasury against accusations of causing salary delays in counties, insisting that devolved units have already received their equitable share allocations.
Speaking on Wednesday, September 24, during an interview on Ramogi FM, Mbadi clarified that the Treasury had cleared arrears up to August, disbursing Ksh32.93 billion to counties in August alone. He said only the September capitation was pending but assured it would be released before month-end.
“If money had not been released, then all counties would be unable to pay salaries. Some counties have already paid up to August,” Mbadi stated.
The CS attributed delays in some devolved units to late budget submissions and discrepancies that prevent approval by the Controller of Budget (CoB).
His remarks followed claims by Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja, who recently said the county had struggled to clear workers’ salaries due to Treasury delays in releasing equitable allocations. Sakaja noted that Nairobi had been relying heavily on its own-source revenue, which he admitted was unsustainable.
Mbadi reiterated that Treasury will continue supporting devolution but urged counties to strengthen financial discipline by submitting accurate and timely budgets.
