MCAs blast CRA for listing Embu as a rich county

MCAs blast CRA for listing Embu as a rich county

Embu Ward Representatives have castigated the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) for omitting semi-arid areas of the county from the list of beneficiaries of the equalisation fund for the next five years.

The Ward Reps’ fury was sparked by CRA’s stating that none of Embu’s sub-locations had qualified for the equalization fund in the second demarginalisation policy because the region was considered as well endowed with resources.

They blamed the commission for condemning the Mbeere region, which they said was one of the poorest areas in the country, to lifelong deficiency of public amenities by locking it out of the fund.

The MCAs revealed that out of 7,132 sub-locations, only 713, representing 10 percent of the total, had made it to the list of the most deprived areas based on health, water, education sanitation and electricity, adding that the fund set, at 0.5% of the national budget was too small to accommodate more areas.

MCAs from Mbeere region led Muminji MCA Newton Kariuki said it was utterly disappointing to note that despite the fact that some sub-locations in Embu had spent more than 50 years in abject poverty, CRA had still not seen the need to factor them among the beneficiaries of the equalisation fund that is meant to uplift such areas economically.

Kariuki, who is also the Assembly Deputy Minority Leader observed that the marginalised areas did not feature in the places earmarked for county flagship projects and called for some affirmative action for such areas when formulating Embu’s annual budget, to make sure they get their rightful share of development.

They said Embu’s marginalisation was due to wrong perceptions that the entire county lay on the slopes of Mt. Kenya and was therefore not needy.

Embu County had been allocated Ksh 4.1 Billion for 2017/18 Financial Year, out of which Ksh 440 Million is based on Poverty level for Embu.

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embu Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) Mbeere Muminji MCA Newton Kariuki

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