Govt yet to release Equalisation Fund for poor counties

The Equalisation Fund, meant to support counties deemed to have been neglected by the State since independence, is yet to be disbursed.

It is expected to put the counties at par with annual allocations for twenty years.

However, five years into the devolved dispensation, the funds are yet to be released, a revelation made by the National Treasury on Friday.

Treasury insists it cannot release the Ksh. 12 billion shillings as there currently exists no law to guide disbursement.

Parliament has been using the formula crafted by the Commission on Revenue Allocation to appropriate the funds since the 2014/2015 financial year.

Turkana County was to receive the highest share of Ksh1.05billion, money which has been strictly set aside for water, roads and healthcare.

“The only way you can equate the status of the counties is by utilising the Equalisation Fund,” Belgut MP Nelson Koech said.

Parliament has however defended itself, with the Budget and Appropriation Committee indicating that the required Bill is in its final stages.

Some members of Parliament are calling for an increase of the Fund saying that a review should be done on the formula.