Mandera Senator Ali Roba has been elected as the chairperson of the Senate Finance and Budget Committee with Nominated Senator Tabitha Mutinda elected vice chairperson of the committee.
Roba who formerly served as Mandera Governor said that his main focus will be to lobby for more funds to be allocated to counties and ensure that a revenue-sharing formula that is adopted in future will carry the interest and diversity of all the 47 counties and its dynamics.
Roba said that given that the counties were now the focal point for development in the country there was need for more funds disbursed especially for devolved functions instead of a huge amount of money being retained at the national level yet could be utilised at the grassroots.
" We are lucky to have a President who listens as a committee we can engage him any time rather than making noise on the streets so that our counties can get more in terms of funding, I promise to work with all stakeholders to ensure that this is achieved, " said Roba.
Mutinda said that the members will work closely with all the Governors in the country in order to internalize the challenges their administrations undergo to actualize their financial obligations and ensure that they are addressed by the government during their tenure.
The Committee Vice Chairperson said that devolution has been in the country for the last 10 years with those counties that made proper use of their resources being very much ahead in terms of development asking those lagging behind to benchmark and learn from those doing well.
Kisii Senator Richard Onyonka said that the focus of the Committee is to push for the Ward Development Fund so as to enable Members of County Assembly are not held at ransom by respective governors with threats of underdevelopment in their areas if they do not toe the line.
"Our focus should be ensuring the Ward Development Fund is up and running so it should be made the focus of development where each one of them in the country is given a chance to decide on their development projects and ensure that they are implemented," said Onyonka.
Kakamega Senator Bonnie Khalwale said that they will ensure that the national government support development in all counties so as to ensure that no part of the country lags behind in development by the end of their term in 2027.
Senators Tabitha Karanja (Nakuru), Mohamed Faki (Mombasa), Eddy Oketch (Migori), Shakila Abdalla (Nominated) and Joyce Korir (Nominated) pledged to work with the committee leadership in efforts to ensure devolution continues being a success.
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