Government approves Laikipia’s Sh1billion seven-year bond
Laikipia becomes the first County to meet the rigorous criteria set out to enable Counties to borrow from the international market.
The county was given the greenlight yesterday during the 15th Intergovernmental Budget and Economic Council (IBEC) chaired by Deputy President William Ruto, to borrow over Sh1 billion.
The council was satisfied that Laikipia had complied with the requirements of the infrastructure bond of Sh1.16 billion.
“The requirements of issuance of the bond were complied with. The council approved and the County Government of Laikipia can now borrow… the county is now a trailblazer and we will want it to succeed so that it be an example for the rest,” said Ruto.
Ruto said the borrowing will be guaranteed by the National Government saying they will support Laikipia on the process to ensure the borrowing becomes a success.
Governor Ndiritu Muriithi had proposed to borrow the funds at an indicative coupon rate of 12 per cent per annum, repayable in seven years.
Ruto said the council had agreed that Division of Revenue recommendation by Treasury and Controller of Budget has been adopted by by the bloc and the same agreed upon by the Council of Governors.
The equitable share allocation of Sh370 billion to devolved units for 2021/2022 would be maintained as was in the 2019/2020 because of the challenges the government got during the Covid-19 that depressed the revenue collected said Ruto.
Additionally, the council also asked the the National Treasury, the Ministry of Petroleum and Mining and Parliament to expedite the enactment of sharing natural resources revenue from natural resources.
The Council recommended that counties should make their own determination of what a community is, and share the resources from their determinations.
Ruto asked Treasury to convene a meeting with county governments to define and profile pending bills and how they can be tackled so that they do not impede development.
He said Treasury will make every effort to ensure the cash is paid to the Counties in full.
In the meeting, Devolution CS Charles Keter was the only CS to attend Ruto’s IBEC meeting.
The meeting also saw the attendance of only nine out of the 47 governors as well as two Principal Secretaries which include; PSs Julius Muia (Treasury) and Julius Korir (Devolution).
The nine governors were led by Council of Governors Chairman Martin Wambora (Embu), Ndiritu Muriithi (Laikipia), Stanley Kiptis (Baringo), Josphat Nanok (Turkana), Paul Chepkwony (Kericho), Anyang’ Nyong’o (Kisumu), Jackson Mandago (Uasin Gishu), Anne Waiguru (Kirinyaga) and Sospeter Ojamoong (Busia).
Ruto had invited Treasury CS Ukur Yatani, who is a permanent member of the council, but is out of the country for docket responsibilities.
The other CSs who were invited were Transport CS James Macharia, George Magoha (Education), Peter Munya (Agriculture) and Charles Keter (Devolution).
