Elgeyo Marakwet Governor Alex Tolgos. [Photo/ the-star.co.ke]
Elgeyo Marakwet Governor Alex Tolgos has called for a review of the formula being used by the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) to determine the amount of funds each of the 47 counties receives from the National government.
Addressing the first sitting of the Elgeyo Marakwet County Assembly in Iten, Tuesday, Tolgos said despite the recent review on the formula, the new one does not address the county's needs.
He lamented that Elgeyo Marakwet is among counties that receives lowest allocation from the shareable revenue administered by the CRA.
"We championed against the formula used by CRA but after they reviewed it recently, we still feel the new formula has not addressed our needs," Tolgos noted.
"The formula clearly does not take into consideration factors such as cost of implementation of projects like roads. For instance, it is expensive to construct roads in our county due to the rugged terrain than doing it in counties with even or flatter terrains," he added.
The county boss challenged the MCAs to work closely with him and support his bid to have the fomula reviewed so as to enable the county get more funds.
"We have not yet achieved equity in the formula and I urge this House to help us agitate for a better formula since our county was not even considered among counties benefiting from the Equalisation Fund," Tolgos noted.
Adding that, "But as we wait for fairness in this matter, I urge you to support us in our quest to source for more development partners to help us bridge the deficits we have in our budget, particularly our recurrent budget, so that we can free more money to development. We attracted several partners in our first term and we hope to enlist more in this term."