Naivasha and Njoro constituencies are the biggest beneficiaries of Uwezo Fund released by the government yesterday.
Through Cabinet Secretary (CS) Anne Waiguru’s Ministry of Devolution and Planning, the government released over Sh5 billion to 290 constituencies countrywide. Nakuru County got a combined sum of Sh190 million for all its 11 constituencies.
Naivasha and Njoro constituencies got Sh 19.5 million and Sh 19.4 million respectively, the highest in Nakuru County. The two constituencies have the highest populations, with over 70,000 people estimated to be poor.
Naivasha has an estimated population of 224,146 while Njoro has 184,863 people.
Nakuru Town East and Nakuru Town West constituencies got the least allocation at Sh 15 million each.
Subukia constituency, which has 94,480 people, received Sh 17 million.
The release of the funds is in line with the Public Finance Management (Uwezo Fund) Regulation 2014, as appropriated by Parliament for the 2013/14 financial year. The regulation provides that the initial capital of the fund be Sh6 billion.
Nationwide, out of the allocated Sh6 billion, Sh180 million – or three percent of the total amount – is retained as administration fee. The Uwezo Fund Board retains this to facilitate both national and constituency level administrative functions.
A further Sh465.6 million – or eight percent of the total amount – has been earmarked for capacity building of the fund beneficiaries and target groups in accordance to the regulation.
Seventy five percent of the balance has been allocated equally across all constituencies while 25 percent has been disbursed on the basis of the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics poverty index for equalisation purposes.