Nairobi, April 30 -- The government has moved to enforce a deadline on passage of Finance Bills by the counties in a bid to plug a loophole that has seen the 47 devolved units miss out on revenues.

This is through a State-backed amendment to the Public Finance Management Act that if adopted by Parliament will insert a new clause into the law, compelling the 47 county assemblies to pass Finance Bills by June 30 every year.

The deadline is meant to allow counties to collect levies and fees at the new rates set in their Finance Acts.

Currently, the county assemblies do not have a deadline on when to pass the Finance Bill, with some passing the Bill six months later. This denies them revenues given that they can't backdate fees and levies ...