Mandera governor Ali Roba has accused the National Treasury of stifling development in Marginal areas by delaying to release the Equalization Fund which is meant to put marginalised counties at par with developed ones .
Governor Roba, who is the chairperson of Frontier Counties Development Council said the failure to release the equalization fund by the National Treasury to the marginalized counties was unacceptable.
The governor alleged that the Treasury is holding Sh12 billion which should have been released to marginalized counties in form of the Equalization Fund.
In a statement to the press on Friday, the governor said the Commission of Revenue Allocation (CRA) revenue sharing formula does not favour the disadvantaged communities and reinforces policies that promote inequalities.
Roba said those against devolution are clawing back the gains made especially by counties in northern Kenya that had been marginalised by successive regimes for decades.
“What we are witnessing are bureaucrats sitting in Nairobi and making decisions that are badly affecting us.”
The governor accused CRA officials of “singing partisan tunes”.
“After 50 years of deliberate successive marginalisation by regimes of Jomo Kenyatta, Daniel Moi, Mwai Kibaki there was glimmer of hope that devolution would guarantee socio-economic development in the ASAL counties, “he said.
The governor said the funds belong to the counties as required by law to help bring them at par in terms of development with the rest of Kenya.
By Dickson Githaiga
