•He said as a Senate, they support Counties get Kshs 335 billion based on the Commission on Revenue Allocation formula.
West Pokot Senator Samuel Poghisio has called for increased allocation of funds to counties for poverty eradication and enhanced service delivery.
Speaking in Kapenguria on Sunday, Poghisio said current allocation for counties is very low.
He said counties need more funding to perform their duties effectively.
Poghisio urged the government to ensure decentralisation of resources to the grassroots to facilitate functions of the devolved units.
“Counties are unable to deliver services to residents due to lack of enough resources,” Poghisio said.
Poghision is among senators that have strongly opposed the Division of Revenue Bill 2019 in which counties have been allocated Sh316 billion for the 2019-20 financial year.
Senators said they will not accept an allocation below Sh327 billion. The National Assembly has refused to adjust the allocation as was presented by Treasury CS Henry Rotich.
“We will not allow the National Assembly to reduce allocation to counties because we have seen the fruits of devolution. We shall reject any attempt by MPs to reduce allocation to counties,” he said.
He said the Senate wanted counties allocated Sh335 billion based on the formula proposed by the Commission on Revenue Allocation.
“The Senate will not allow another version of the Division of Revenue Bill that reduces funding to counties.”
Poghisio said many counties in the North Rift region were marginalised and were still lagging behind in terms of development.
“West Pokot was a closed district for a very long time and Sh4 billion that is allocated to the county is not enough considering that the county has many challenges,”Poghisio said.
He cited poor infrastructure, saying more funds were needed to reduce poverty, improve the economy and living standards of residents.
“Marginalised counties need water, roads, health facilities, sewerage among other basic facilities.”
edited by peter obuya