It is now evident that North Eastern counties will be the biggest losers in Jubilee's first term in power if the government effects its intention to use the disputed 2009 census as a factor in allocating funds.
According to the whistle blower, Mandera Senator Kerrow Billow, the national government intends to revise funds being allocated to the three North Eastern Counties for the 2017/18 financial year after a court ruling in May this year that directed government agencies to use the census results.
Confirming the developments, Kerrow said the 2017/18 financial year whose budgeting process has been brought forward will see allocations to Mandera County get reduced by at least Sh1.5 billion, while Wajir and Garissa Counties by Sh1.0 billion each.
Other county governments will also be affected in a similar way in future.
“NEP counties risk losing over Sh3.5 billion and more annually regardless of the fact that the three counties are the poorest and least developed counties,” said Kerrow, who has since called on residents of the three affected counties to put pressure on their governors to resist the said funding cut.
Kerrow’s request comes at the wake of time when the triple counties featured in the list of counties which failed to prioritize payments of their legal fees for more than six months after the court ruling.