Northern Kenya leaders say to sue over failure to get Sh28.3bn Equalisation Fund

Leaders from northern Kenya’s marginalised counties have threatened to initiate legal proceedings against the Treasury for failing to release Sh28.3 billion under the Equalisation Fund.

The governors and MPs accused the Treasury of sitting on the funds, 10 years after its establishment.

“We expect the national Treasury to urgently disburse the funds or else we proceed to court for a judicial redress,” Ali Roba, the Mandera governor who led seven MPs at a press conference in Nairobi, said.

Under the umbrella Frontier Counties Development Council (FCDC), which brings together Lamu, Tana River, Garissa, Wajir, Mandera, Marsabit, Isiolo, Turkana and West Pokot, the leaders said their counties have not received any funds to date.

“To date the funds earmarked for the equalisation meant for the ASAL counties have not been released. Since promulgation of the constitution it is now 10 years. We have therefore lost half the period we could have utilised these funds so far,” Mr Roba said. The equalization fund has a maturity age of 20 years and was established under the 2010 Constitution.

The fund was created under Article 204 of the Constitution as a public finance, set aside to accelerate the level of services in marginalised areas to bring them up to par with the rest of the country.

The money is meant to provide basic services, including water, roads, health facilities and electricity to marginalised areas. It constitutes one half percent of all revenue collected each year by the national government.

“The monies spent so far have largely gone to the operational costs of seven principal secretaries that form the governing board of the fund.

“So far, we have not received any response on our correspondence to the PS national Treasury requesting for urgent disbursement,” the leaders said in a joint statement.

They accused the government of taking an exclusionist approach to sharing of national resources.

“We have seen a trend where the ASAL region is no longer seen as an equal partner in resource sharing from the national government,” Mr Roba said.

FDCC says the Treasury should ensure that Equalisation Fund receives its full entitlement since 2010 to the current financial year, a sum it says adds to Sh45.3 billion.