Siaya Governor Cornel Rasanga has called for a revision on the County Revenue Allocation (CRA) formula to reflect financial needs of major towns.
He said the current template fails to take into consideration the fact that counties with such towns spent more on public infrastructure than those without such towns.
Speaking at the launch of a gated estate in Kisumu on Tuesday, Rasanga said devolution failed to recognize the role played by towns like Kisumu in acting as a gateway to the East African Community.
“I have always been of the position that counties like Kisumu should get some special treatment because if you look at what they spend on roads alone, there is barely enough money left to accomplish any other project,” he said
He said counties like Siaya were banking on Kisumu’s strategic position for a hub in the EAC region to grow.
“If Kisumu develops into the hub it should be, then even us neighboring counties will grow, but this cannot be achieved with the current approach we have on revenue allocation. With the maturity of devolution I think we should be able to fix things soon,” said Rasanga.
Kisumu County got an equitable share of Sh6.6 billion and total of Sh1.6 billion in conditional grants and loans from the National Government. It projected to collect a total of Sh2 billion in local revenue, pushing its revenue envelope to Sh10 billion.
Governor Jack Ranguma who was the chief guest at the launch said the planned revival of lake transport at the cost of Sh14 billion, coupled with expected termination of the Standard Gauge Railway in Kisumu would open up the region to bigger investments.