Could governors attendance at IBEC meetings be irregular? What the law says

Governors’ attendance at the Intergovernmental Budget and Economic Council (IBEC) meetings chaired by the Deputy President may be irregular.

IBEC is a forum for the consultation and cooperation between the National and County Governments on matters of finance, budget, the economy and planning.

The forum is created by section 187 of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) 2012 and lists members who include the Deputy President as chairman.

According to the law, other members include the Treasury Cabinet Secretary; a representative of the Parliamentary Service Commission; a representative of the Judicial Service Commission and the Chairperson of the Commission on Revenue Allocation or a person designated by the Chairperson.

Section 187 (1) (f) lists only the Chairperson of the Council of County Governors (CoG) as a member and not all the governors. Other than the COG chair, counties under (1) (g) are represented by all the 47 County Executive Committee members (CCEM) for Finance.

Other members include the Cabinet Secretary responsible for intergovernmental relations.

However, in spite of the provisions of law, Governors have been attending the meetings, overshadowing their Finance CECMs in a forum which, among other roles, agrees on the schedule for the disbursement of available cash from the Consolidated Fund on the basis of cash flow projections.

The most recent IEBC meeting, chaired by Deputy President Kithure Kindiki, was the 27th ordinary session on 23rd June 2025 at the official DP’s residence in Karen.

It concluded with a raft of resolutions aimed at strengthening devolution, unlocking county development, and ensuring smoother financial flows across the two levels of government.

CoG chairman Ahmed Abdullahi then posted on his social media page about the meeting:

“I led the Council of Governors to the 27th Ordinary Session of the IBEC held in Karen, Nairobi County.”

Their attendance, however, is not illegal but can be flagged as irregular if they append their signatures as members instead of also being in attendance.  

The only forum that brings all Governors together with the National Government is the Summit, chaired by the President.  

Section 7 of the Inter-Governmental Relations Act provides for the establishment of a National and County Government Co-ordinating Summit, which shall be the apex body for intergovernmental relations.

The summit is chaired by the President or, in the absence of the President,  it is the Deputy President, who shall be the Chairperson. The summit has listed all the governors of the forty-seven counties as members.

The Summit shall, among other things, provide a forum for consultation and co-operation between the national and county governments; promote national values and principles of governance; and promote national cohesion and unity

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