“We have a vibrant budget
department. We channel 53 per cent of our budget to development projects. We currently
have an absorption rate of funds at about 75 percent since the inception of the
County Government.” - Ibrahim Barrow Hassan
For Mandera County devolution is a
blessing. A region that never received any meaningful allocation of resources
in 50 years of independence is now being mainstreamed into the rest of the
country in terms of resource allocation. As a result, the County is expected to
receive more than Kshs 100 billion over the next 10 years.
“We are directing these resources to all
sectors of our society in a way that it has never been seen before”. Says
Ibrahim Barrow Hassan; CEC – Finance and economic planning. Some of these key
sectors include infrastructure, health services, agriculture & Irrigation,
livestock, education and water & Energy. According to World Bank reports,
Mandera is one of the arid counties that have reported the lowest development
indicators and the highest incidence of poverty in Kenya after many years of
marginalization by successive regimes. It is estimated that about 87 percent of
population of the county live below poverty line and it remains the most
chronically food insecure county experiencing high malnutrition levels as well
as the highest maternal mortality rates.
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| An aerial view of Mandera town which has seen a major facelift with the coming up of new constructions |
There are plenty of investment opportunities
which according to County Integrated Development Plan can be targeted with view
to improving infrastructure, Energy, Water Supply and many more. Governor Ali
Roba says: “Mandera suffers from absolute under development over the years and
will require huge capital inflows from alternative sources other than the
County resources to be able to plug the gaps and improve living standards.”
“The county government is proactively addressing the most urgent issues such as
insecurity, water supply, food security, roads, health services and education
among others,” Governor Roba says.
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| One of thye new constructions' taking place in Mandera |
To uplift Mandera County to be at
par with other counties, which did not suffer marginalization in Kenya,
substantial resources must flow to it to finance infrastructural and
development projects that can meaningfully improve peoples’ lives. The County
Executive Committee member for Finance Ibrahim Barrow Hassan says the County
Treasury too has put in place measures to enhance local revenue collection. “In
the first two years of devolution, we have seen our revenue collection grow
tremendously.”
Revenue collection has improved from
KShs- 36million under the former local authorities to KSh 125 million under
county government; a growth of 236 percent. We are projecting to collect KSh 220
million. The National Treasury has allocated Mandera County KSh 6.6 billion in
2013-2014 financial year and another KSh 7.8 billion in 2014-2015 financial
year.
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