In the last few weeks, several people from Wajir South (including some in this forum) asked me how

the

equalization funds were shared up to ward level. Residents of some of our wards are concerned that

their wards got less money and feel short-changed. As a result, there seems to be blame games on who

played a role in determining how much each ward got.

I therefore wish to make the following clarifications since it was not easy to respond to each and

everyone of you.

1. The Equalization fund Bill that has been circulating was first published on 31 st Jan 2023. This is

long after I left Parliament. I therefore had nothing to do with how the funds were shared among

the wards.

2. The funds are distributed to the marginalized areas in line with a PRE-DETERMINED policy

determined by the Commission on revenue allocation (CRA) as mandated in Article 216(4) of the

constitution

3. Currently, the second marginalization policy is under implementation. This policy has identified

1424 marginalized areas spread across 34 counties. Each of the marginalized areas is allocated its

share of funds based on an allocation factor determined by CRA.

4. There are institutions legally mandated to handle this matter, these are; CRA, Parliament, the

equalization fund secretariat and the National Treasury. A visit to their website will give you a

wealth of information. Members of the public have every right to present their views to the

relevant bodies.

Please have a look at the attached report of the senate standing committee on finance and budget

concerning the equalization fund appropriation bill. Please pay particular attention to numbers 2 & 3

(Page 10, chapter 1). This report is also available in the website of the senate.