Turkana governor Josphat Nanok has lauded the move by President Uhuru Kenyatta to sign the petroleum Bill into law.
The head of state assented to the Bill on Tuesday this week.
“We are very happy that the President assented to the Bill without any alterations,” Nanok told reporters at his office on Wednesday.
He said the passage of the Bill will allow the community to benefit from additional resources to develop and realise its development blue print, the county integrated development plan.
The county government requires Shs 149 billion to fund its five year county integrated development plan.
County executive committee (CEC) for Finance and Planning Robert Loteleng’o recently said the county would raise shs 60 billion from its allocation from the national treasury and would be looking for partners to fund the deficit.
The new law allocates 20 percent of oil proceeds to local government, five percent to communities living where oil was found and 75 percent to central government. An earlier draft gave 10 percent to the communities.
The bill also provides that parliament will review the percentages within 10 years.
Nanok further said the funds would also address drought once and for all by boosting irrigation and food security in the county.
He said there was too much expectation from his government considering it has been receiving an average of Shs 10 billion annually since 2013.
“You cannot expect a child who has been in the womb for 53 years to be born, grow and fend for itself in six years. The expectations are too high but we are slowly getting there,” said the county boss.
By Peter Gitonga
