{"id":122632,"date":"2025-10-06T15:09:03","date_gmt":"2025-10-06T15:09:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/index.php\/2025\/10\/06\/governor-otuoma-calls-on-senate-to-expand-equalization-fund-to-include-frontier-counties\/"},"modified":"2025-10-06T15:09:03","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T15:09:03","slug":"governor-otuoma-calls-on-senate-to-expand-equalization-fund-to-include-frontier-counties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/governor-otuoma-calls-on-senate-to-expand-equalization-fund-to-include-frontier-counties\/","title":{"rendered":"Governor Otuoma calls on Senate to expand equalization fund to include frontier counties"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya Oct 6 \u2013 Busia Governor Paul Otuoma has pushed the Senate to broaden the scope of the Equalisation Fund to include frontier counties that face unique cross-border challenges.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Otuoma said that while all counties receive the equitable share of revenue and a few benefit from the Equalisation Fund, border counties like Busia contend with additional pressures that are not reflected in current allocations.<\/p>\n

He noted that Busia, which lies along the Kenya\u2013Uganda border, often bears the burden of providing essential services \u00a0including healthcare \u00a0to citizens from neighbouring countries.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is need to look into the challenges facing frontier counties like Busia. We plan and budget for our citizens, but we also have our brothers and sisters crossing from Uganda to seek the same services,\u201d said Otuoma.<\/p>\n

The governor spoke when he hosted the Senate leadership at his office, where he lauded the Upper House for its continued support of devolution but lamented the persistent financial and administrative challenges confronting county governments.<\/p>\n

He cited delayed disbursement of funds, disputes over devolved functions, frequent industrial actions, and outdated pre-devolution laws as major obstacles hampering effective service delivery.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe still face a lot of challenges in terms of functions and resources following functions. There is still a lot of push and pull between the national and county governments,\u201d Otuoma said.<\/p>\n

According to Otuoma his administration in partnership with the National government is constructing an Economic Processing Zone (EPZ) and the Busia Metropolis that will not only create jobs but also generate income to the county to support various programmes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have partnered with the National Government to create the Busia Metropolis and establish the an industrial park that will create jobs and enable to the county to generate some income and fund its activities,\u201d said Otuoma.<\/p>\n

Senate Speaker Amason Kingi urged county bosses to implement Senate committee recommendations without delay, including taking disciplinary action against underperforming county officials, to restore accountability in devolved units.<\/p>\n

The speaker decried the failure by some county administrations to act on Senate reports and audit findings, warning that inaction undermines service delivery and public confidence in devolution.<\/p>\n

Senators have pitched tent in Busia County this week under the Senate Mashinani initiative, focusing on the efficiency of cross-border trade, regional integration, and stalled infrastructure projects that have delayed key development goals in the border county.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have very many reports where we have made recommendations, but you find that ten, five or three years have gone by and the recommendations haven\u2019t been implemented on the ground,\u201d Kingi said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo governor, if you see recommendations to either sack certain officials or take action against them, please implement that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Speaker, who served as Kilifi Governor for ten years, said he understood the challenges governors face in managing county staff, but urged them to act decisively against incompetence and laxity.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes when you are preparing to appear before watchdog or departmental committees, you find that certain departments are just incompetent,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou give them a week to respond to issues raised before the Senate, but they still give bogus responses. What I used to do before I appeared before the Senate was to sack them. When they asked me what I had done about the bogus response, I told them the said officers were already at home \u00a0and they clapped for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kingi admitted that dismissing officials is not always easy due to political issues and regional balance \u00a0but insisted it is sometimes necessary to safeguard performance and accountability as the conduct of county officials determines the governors score card at the end of his term.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know it\u2019s not good to sack an officer because he\u2019s a family man with responsibilities, but as a governor, if you allow laxity, you fail the whole county. I want to urge county officials please don\u2019t fail in your duties,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Senate Speaker also defended the Senate\u2019s oversight role, saying its intention is not to antagonize governors but to ensure prudent use of public funds and stronger devolution.<\/p>\n

Speaker Kingi highlighted that\u2019s its always a tug of war between National Assembly and the Senate when counties are pushing for equitable revenue share under the Division of Revenue of Bill each financial year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no frosty relationship between the county assemblies and the Senate. When we put governors on the spotlight over the usage of funds, it\u2019s to ensure devolved resources are well utilized,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs Senate, we really fight with the National Assembly to ensure counties get enough resources. If the Senate wasn\u2019t there, counties would be getting meagre allocations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kingi praised Busia County for maintaining a cordial working relationship between the governor and the county assembly, saying it was a model of success in devolution.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t be jubilant because counties are having issues. Our success is the success of counties. When we see wars between the executive and the legislature, we are not happy because when the two arms collide, it\u2019s the mwananchi who suffers,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

The sittings in Busia are part of ongoing efforts by the upper House to enhance its working relationship with counties and interaction with the people at the grassroots.<\/p>\n

Previous Mashinani sittings were held in Uasin Gishu, Kitui, and Turkana counties in 2018, 2019, and 2023 respectively. No sittings were held in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya Oct 6 \u2013 Busia Governor Paul Otuoma has pushed the Senate to broaden the scope of the Equalisation Fund to include frontier counties that face unique cross-border challenges. Otuoma said that while all counties receive the equitable share of revenue and a few benefit from the Equalisation Fund, border counties like Busia contend […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-122632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122632"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122632\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}