Uasin Gishu county assembly has approved the allocation of Sh. 1.2 billion to be shared equally between the 30 electoral wards.
Each electoral ward will receive Sh.43 million representing 40% of the development vote as outlined in the 2019 fiscal strategy paper that the Assembly has already endorsed.
The Assembly approved the Fiscal Strategy Paper 2019 with a break from the past, where the County Executive and Members of County Assembly decided the projects to be implemented and instead chose to follow recommendations of residents as expressed during public participation forums organized by the Budget and Appropriations Committee
While moving the motion, Budget Committee chair, Jonathan Ng’etich said the budget must capture the aspirations of the people of Uasin Gishu County who wanted projects implemented as per their prioritization.
“The residents of Uasin Gishu wanted roads, health and water projects to be prioritized in resource allocation. They also want to have a say on how funds allocated to the wards should be managed to ensure funded projects have a direct benefit on the people,” he said.
County flagship project were allocated 61% of the budget which is equivalent Sh.2.8 billion.
The allocation of the funds to Wards is a replica of the national government constituency development fund, NG-CDF that allocates funds to counties to undertake development projects as per their priority.
The County Assembly Chief Whip, David Sing’oei supported the motion, saying that funds would spread development across all the wards just like the NG-CDF has done across the country.
“Every ward will get development funds to undertake their activities without undue influence of the Governor in office. The governors will no longer discriminate against any ward on the basis of whether the residents of a particular county voted for them or not,” said Sing’oei
The leader of majority at the Assembly, Josphat Lowoi praised the move, saying priorities varied in every ward with wards in urban areas not necessarily having the same priorities with wards in rural areas.
“The decision to allocate development funds to the ward will now give wananchi the sovereignty to decide on how their resources will be spent,” said Lowoi.
By Kiptanui Cherono
