How constituencies will share Uwezo Fund’s Sh5 billion

By ISAAC MESO

NAIROBI, KENYA: Constituencies in Northern Kenya and the Coast are among the biggest beneficiaries of the Sh5 billion Uwezo Fund.

Of the Sh5.3 billion to be allocated to all constituencies, Mandera South, with high poverty levels, will receive the lion’s share of Sh31.8 million, followed by Turkana West (Sh29.4 million) and Mandera North (Sh25. 5 million).

Kinango and Magarini constituencies will receive Sh27.8 million and Sh25.6 million respectively, Mandera West Sh24.8 million, Banissa Sh24.6 million, Turkana North Sh24.3 million and Kilifi North Sh22.7 million.

Those with the least allocations are Lamu East (Sh14.2 million) and Makadara (Sh14.8 million each).

Lamu East has about 4,638 poor people, accounting for 0.03 per cent of the National Poverty Index, according to a report released by the Ministry of Devolution and Planning.

Other constituencies with lower allocations include Changamwe (Sh15.5 million), Jomvu (Sh15.3 million), Likoni (Sh15.9 million), Mvita (Sh15.5 million) and Nyali (Sh16.6 million).

In Nairobi, Embakasi West has the highest allocation of Sh14.4 million. Lang’ata has Sh15 million, Kasarani Sh15.2 million and Dagoretti South Sh15.3 million, Dagoretti North and Westlands will each receive Sh15.5 million, Kitui West Sh16 million and Kathiani and Mavoko Sh16.4 million each.

Speaking from his office in Nairobi, Wilfred Buyuma, the Uwezo Fund acting chief executive officer, said about 90 of the 290 constituencies will by the end of this week receive the first tranche of the Sh5.3 billion fund.  “We are embarking on the first phase of the fund disbursement and hope to release the first tranche by the end of this week, thereafter work on releasing the rest in the coming weeks,” he said.

Some of the factors that were considered in allocation of the funds included constituency population, poverty headcount, and number of poor, among others.

CRITERIA FOR DISTRIBUTION

Buyuma said they were also guided by Section 18 of the Public Finance Management (Uwezo Fund) Regulation, 2014 that lays out the criteria for distribution of the cash.

Part of Section 18 allows a one-off three per cent administration fee to be charged on the total funds allocated, to be retained by the board to facilitate both national and constituency level administrative functions.

The section also allows an additional eight per cent of the fund to be set aside for capacity building of beneficiaries and target groups

He explained that 75 per cent of the funds were allocated equally across all the constituencies, and the remaining 25 per cent was disbursed on the basis of the National Poverty Index, for equalisation purposes.

He also noted that once disbursed to the constituencies, the funds would be administered through the Constituency Uwezo Fund Management Committees, modelled along the Constituency Development Fund (CDF).

He urged the youth, women and persons with disabilities to access funds in their respective constituencies through registered groups.

“It’s hard to dream big at first, and if the youth take small steps first., eventually they realise that forming groups increases their capacity to harness their businesses as opposed to individualism,” he said.

He noted that Uwezo Fund’s oversight board is currently conducting training in all 47 counties to boost knowledge among the youth and women on the Fund, and encouraging them to form groups to ease their access to the cash.

“The Government has set up favourable self-employment policies allowing the SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) owned by the youth, women and persons with disabilities to grow and flourish. There can be no excuse to access the funds and improve their lives,” he added.

The Public Procurement Act requires that 30 per cent of all public tenders be set aside for the youth, women and persons with disabilities.  Under the new rules, any SME or disadvantaged group wishing to participate in public procurement is required to register with the National Treasury or their respective county treasury offices.