Good news for slum dwellers as fund allocation proposed

President Uhuru Kenyatta with Commission on Revenue Allocation officials at State House in Nairobi, on May 22, 2018. They presented a report on the second policy identifying marginalised areas. PHOTO | PSCU

What you need to know:

  • A proposal to create the Ward Development Fund through the 2018 County Wards Development Equalisation Bill, with an estimated annual budget of Sh24 billion, has sparked a dispute among leaders.

  • The proposal to have slum dwellers benefit from the fund was first made by the Commission on Revenue Allocation during preparations for its second policy.
  • This latest policy will be used to share revenue from the Equalisation Fund for the period ending 2021 and also identify marginalised areas within various counties.

Slum dwellers in major towns will soon be included in the list of beneficiaries of the billions of shillings from the Equalisation Fund.

On Tuesday, President Uhuru Kenyatta said the slum residents deserve to benefit from the kitty to bring their quality of life to the level generally enjoyed by the rest of the country.

His proposal comes amid concerns about inequality within counties which has brought about the clamour to create an equivalent of the Constituency Development Fund at the ward level.

A proposal to create the Ward Development Fund through the 2018 County Wards Development Equalisation Bill, with an estimated annual budget of Sh24 billion, has sparked a dispute among leaders.

“The urban poor, mainly those in informal settlements, live in precarious conditions and also need to be accorded equal consideration as other marginalised communities in the rural areas,” President Kenyatta said.

REVENUE ALLOCATION

The proposal to have slum dwellers benefit from the fund was first made by the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) during preparations for its second policy.

Unlike the commission’s first policy, which only identified marginalised counties, the second one whose report was discussed with President Kenyatta at State House on Tuesday identifies marginalised areas within the counties.

This is informed by the fact that there are pockets of marginalised areas even within the highly developed counties. CRA had called for public participation in identification of these areas within counties. The commission had initially identified 14 marginalised counties as beneficiaries of the kitty. They are Garissa, Isiolo, Kilifi, Kwale, Lamu, Mandera, Marsabit, Narok, Samburu, Tana River, Turkana, Taita-Taveta, Wajir and West Pokot.

MARGINALISED AREAS

This latest policy will be used to share revenue from the Equalisation Fund for the period ending 2021 and also identify marginalised areas within various counties.

In his State of the Nation address, the President said in the 2018 Division of Revenue Bill, which sets aside Sh372 billion for counties for the 2018/19 financial year, Sh2 billion was disbursed to 11 counties from the Equalisation Fund to improve services.

The 2018 County Wards Development Equalisation Bill is sponsored by Murang’a Senator Irungu Kang’ata who says the proposed law is aimed at ensuring equity in distribution of resources. If adopted, the fund will consist of at least eight per cent of the share of annual revenue allocated to a county.

But the Bill in its second reading at the Senate has been opposed by Treasury and the Controller of Budget.