Kitui County to receive equalization fund next year

By Andrew Munyoki

Kitui County will be among the top regions for consideration during allocation of the equalization fund in the government’s next fiscal year, Commission on Revenue Allocation [CRA] chairman Micah Cheserem has said.

“Yes Kitui missed in this year’s allocation, however, it will be among the counties for prioritization in the next allocation,” Cheserem promised during a meeting with the governor Dr.Julius Malombe.

CRA chairman Micah Cheserem (Photo: Andrew Munyoki/MCV)

The CRA wound a two day familiarization trip to Kitui County on Wednesday where the team visited mineral rich areas like Mui Coal Basin in Mwingi East and limestone and iron ore belts in Mutomo and Ikutha districts respectively.

The CRA team asked for a quick resolve to all issues holding back mining of the minerals in the region which could be explored to improve the lives of residents with most living below the poverty line.

The chairman also challenged local leaders to spearhead civic education on devolution matters at the same time encouraging citizen participation and consensus to fast-track mining activities in the region for revenue.

CRA visited for an assessment of the economic status of the county among other objectives. The revenue allocating body met the reality of poverty after visiting Kitui south, a constituency where residents walk long distances in search of water while pupils learn in the open or makeshift structures.

Lamenting the high rate of poverty among residents, Cheserem blamed past leadership for a systemic failure to tap into the county’s natural resources that could have been exploited long ago for revenue that could have changed the lives of locals.

  “Surely leaders from this region should be ashamed of themselves if a county with so many resources should be in such a condition” the soft spoken man told county assembly members when he addressed them.

He further urged all elected leaders from the region to ensure that they transform the lives of residents before expiry of their term in leadership failure to which none should seek re-election.

“None of you MCAs [members of county assembly] or any other elected leader from this region should seek re-election if five years from today residents would not have seen any improvement in their livelihoods” he quipped.

Advocating for a sustainable food production in the region the CRA urged the county government to promote farming of crops suitable for the little rains received in the region.

Cheserem shed tears on Tuesday when he visited some of the poorest and driest parts of the country. In Lingithya primary school in Kanziko ward of Kitui south, Cheserem was overcome by emotion and  broke down when he found hundreds of pupils huddled in a few desks under a shade without a single structure as classroom.The former Central Bank Governor donated Ksh 100,000 from his own pocket and another Ksh 100,000 from the CRA corporate social responsibility kitty for the rehabilitation of the school.