Garissa governor, MPs feud over national budget share

Garissa,

Wednesday December 13, 2023

KNA by Erick Kyalo

Garissa Township Member of Parliament Major (rtd) Mohamed Dekow has refuted Governor Nathif Jama’s claims that the area MPs and the national government are doing very little in terms of development with 85 percent of the national budget against counties at 15 percent.

Dekow, who was speaking in Garissa town today said that 15 percent of the counties’ national share was based on the devolved functions and that the national government has the biggest functions including education, security, foreign affairs, and other functions which require more funding.

Speaking yesterday during the Jamhuri Day celebrations at the Garissa primary school ground, Jama had called out the area MPs for questioning the performance of his government and its development projects.

The governor opined that the MPs had not done anything for the citizens and thus lacked the moral authority to question him.

However, the Township MP today said that although he doesn’t want to play the blame game because every leader should know his responsibilities, he will not keep quiet when his constituents go without water and access to basic services like health.

“The governor ought to know where the 85 percent of the budget is being utilized. This money is going to our defense forces, our police and other security forces, education which is taking a sixth of the budget at ksh 630 billion, and other ministries,” Dekow said.

“The money is also going to the Universal Health coverage, the construction of our roads, Equalization fund which is taking Ksh 10 billion this financial year with Ksh 800 million for Garissa County,” he added.

The MP further said that there are other special projects like the hunger safety net programme and the Inua Jamii and that no one should say that the national government is not doing development projects.

“As the area MPs, we have lobbied for development projects for this county which I think the governor has refused to appreciate. The construction of the Tana Bridge is going to start in January, we have secured roads construction funding from the national government worth Ksh 172 million for this county,” he said.

“We want the governor to do his work and we are ready to support him as leader because at the end of the day, we want our people to access services. We do not want conflicts and blame games so that there is no excuse for not delivering to his people,” he added.

At the center of the differences is the lack of water especially in Garissa town with River Tana just nearby, but the county government claims that the water supply was disrupted by the recent flash floods.

Courtesy; KNA