By FRED KIBOR            

ELGEYO/MARAKWET  COUNTY, KENYA:  A public forum to discuss the proposed Elgeyo/Marakwet County Finance Bill in Iten town ended in disarray after residents said the proceedings were full of jargon.

The residents said they could not comprehend the contents of the proposed Bill and urged the county government to hire financial experts to interpret its implications on their daily lives.

The residents, who had gathered at Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) hall in Iten at the weekend, told the conveners to put off the meeting until the experts were brought in.

Short notice

Apart from technical terms used in the Bill, the residents were also not happy about the short notice they had beed given to grasp the contents of the Bill.

According to one of the residents, Boss Chemitei, they did not understand the contents of the Bill and they were also not supplied with copies.

“We need experts to guide us through this Bill,” said Chemitei.

“This Bill will negatively affect our lives if passed without the residents’ input  since they were not involved in its  drafting,” he said.

However, County Assembly Budget Committee Vice Chairman Christopher Chemosong, who was taking the residents through the Bill, asked the residents to endorse the proposed law since it was to be tabled before the assembly tomorrow.

“We have no time to go back to the wards and take the residents through the Bill,” said Chemosong.

The Bill was also simultaneously being discussed at Kapsowar, Chesoi and Chepkorio towns within the county, but residents in those areas endorsed it.

If passed, farmers in the area will be required to pay an annual cultivation fee of Sh2,000 per acre, which was not taxable previously.

Counties whose water for domestic and other uses  originate from Elgeyo/Marakwet will pay a monthly fee of Sh300,000 as royalties. Uasin Gishu County heavily relies on water from the Elgeyo/Marakwet.

Oil prospecting firms will rbe equired to remit Sh500,000 per drill as royalties if they find the resource while mining companies will pay Sh2.5 million to the county up from the current Sh1.2 million.