The High Court in Nairobi on March 15 will rule on the national government’s bid to lower the 2009 census results.
The state says they were inflated and wants them reduced, but counties resist because population is a factor in financial assistance.
The region is already marginalised and the government should not cut funding, they argue.
Some politicians from Mandera, Wajir and Garissa counties are opposed the government’s decision.
Through their lawyer Issa Mansoor, they concluded their submissions on Thursday. The case has been in court since mid-last year.
Then Planning ministry cancelled the census results of Mandera, Wajir, Garissa and Turkana counties. In February 2012, then Planning minister Wycliffe Oparanya tabled revised post census figures in Parliament. The report showed inflated 2009 figures for Lagdera, Mandera East, Mandera Central, Mandera West, Wajir East, Turkana North, Turkana South and Turkana Central.
The census figures read the area had 2.35 million people, but Oparanya said 1.3 million was the actual population size.
But High Court judge Mohammed Warsame quashed Oparanya’s decision to cancel the results of eight districts in the region. Warsame said the decision was unlawful and unfair.
The leaders had during the time faulted the move, describing it as erroneous and vowed to challenge it.
In his final submission, lawyer Mansoor dismissed the governments action to arbitrary reduce population census by 40 per cent across the board.
He accused the state of ‘tinkering’ with the figures to deny these counties more revenue.
Mansoor told the court the government’s action has violated the law and disregarded two previous court rulings that upheld the 2009 census results.
In his Facebook post, Mandera Senator Billow Kerrow expressed optimism the High Court will rule in favour of the three counties. “Chances look good and the ruling will ultimately be in our favour. Poor folks in the region may have more resources at their disposal. If we lose this case, the implication for Northeastern in future will be bad. We will lose billions in revenue,” he wrote.
Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi yesterday told the Star on the phone, “We found it discriminatory, given that the counties have been marginalised for long. How do you explain a situation where the government accepts results from all the parts of the country, apart of Northeastern.”