Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi speaking during the launch of the Wajir Girls–Hadado Yarey Road upgrading project to bitumen standard. /STEPHEN ASTARIKO
MP Keynan, Governor Abdullahi trade barbs over Equalization Fund
A fresh political battle has erupted between Eldas MP Adan Keynan and Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi over the implementation and impact of the Equalization Fund.
The two leaders are trading sharp words over whether the billions allocated under the programme have made any meaningful difference in marginalized communities.
The war of words began last week when Keynan, took issue with the manner in which the Equalization Fund is being implemented, declaring that the programme had failed to achieve its constitutional purpose.
Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly, Keynan, a fifth-term legislator challenged anyone to point to a single project undertaken in his county through the fund, arguing that billions of shillings were being spent without adequately addressing the inequalities the fund was established to tackle.
“There is no iota, not even a single project, under the Equalization Fund, and I want to be challenged on this. To that extent, I want to declare the Equalization Fund dead—completely dead,” Keynan said.
Keynan who is also the chairperson of the Northern Kenya Parliamentary Group, went further to warn that the fund risked becoming a source of political patronage rather than an instrument for transforming historically marginalized communities.
“Don’t waste your money. It has become a cash cow for governors. It has become a cash cow for governors. Let us call a spade a spade. We cannot spend billions of shillings simply to cover up for the ills of a government,” he said.
He also questioned changes made to the programme, arguing that they had departed from both the letter and spirit of the Constitution.
He said the policy framework governing the fund had undermined the original objective of Article 204 of the Constitution, particularly after the number of counties targeted for support was expanded from the original 14 to 34.
Keynan further accused policymakers of arbitrarily changing the criteria for determining beneficiaries, saying the changes were unfair to counties that had been identified under the constitutional framework as needing special intervention.
“Consider also that the number of counties meant to benefit from the fund was increased from 14 to 34. Consider that all this was done maliciously, arbitrarily and in a very offensive manner, both to those who are developing and to the provisions and spirit of the current Constitution,” he
Governor Abdullahi has since hit back at the legislator, dismissing the criticism and pointing to projects undertaken through the Equalization Fund in Wajir.
Speaking in Wajir town when he launched the Wajir Girls–Hadado Yarey Road upgrading project to bitumen standard, Abdullahi said it was unnecessary to engage in a prolonged political argument over Keynan's remarks because residents had quickly responded by sharing evidence of projects implemented through the fund.
“Recently you have seen someone speaking in Parliament claiming that the Equalization Fund has not done anything,” Abdullahi said, referring to Keynan.
“I don't have to address that because almost immediately during the night people of Tarbaj shared images of what the Equalization Fund has done, the South also shared, the North shared, all constituencies shared what the Equalization Fund has done,” the governor said.
Abdullahi, who is also the chair of the Council of Governors, sought to clarify the role played by the county government in the implementation process, saying decisions on projects funded through the Equalization Fund are not made solely by governors.
According to the governor, the process involves various government representatives, including the county commissioner and the management of the National Government Constituencies Development Fund, commonly known as NG-CDF, with the county government implementing decisions reached through the established process.
“When implementing the Equalization Fund, the decision is made when there is a representative of the county commissioner and the management of CDF. The county only implements the decisions arrived at,” Abdullahi said.
The governor accused his critics of attempting to use the controversy surrounding the fund to portray his administration as ineffective, insisting that residents of Wajir were better placed to judge his performance.
“Whatever is being said is to show Kenyans that the Wajir Governor is not working, but the people of Wajir know that the governor is working,” he said.
Turning directly to Keynan's long parliamentary career, Abdullahi delivered his sharpest response, suggesting that the legislator's decades in Parliament had not necessarily translated into satisfaction with the development interventions in the region.
“I am telling those who are making noise in Parliament that if 30 years in Parliament did not satisfy you, the Equalization Fund won't satisfy you,” Abdullahi said.
The Equalization Fund is a constitutional mechanism established under Article 204 of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010, to address historical disparities in the provision of basic services in marginalized areas.
The Constitution requires that the fund receive an amount equivalent to 0.5 per cent of the national government's shareable revenue.
The money is intended to finance programmes aimed at bringing basic services in marginalized areas to a level reasonably comparable to the standard of services enjoyed elsewhere in the country.
The services identified in the Constitution include water, roads, health facilities and electricity.
The fund was therefore conceived as a targeted intervention to help communities and areas that had historically been left behind in national development.
Its implementation, however, has faced political and administrative challenges over the years, including disagreements over how beneficiaries should be identified, how projects should be selected and implemented, and which level of government should exercise control over the funds.
The original Equalization Fund framework identified 14 marginalized counties as beneficiaries based on criteria developed in accordance with the Constitution.
Subsequent policy changes expanded the scope of areas eligible for support, triggering debate among leaders from northern Kenya and other historically marginalized regions.
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