Save Turkana shame of food caravans

By Kethi D Kilonzo
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Turkana County, now steeped in drought, boasts both oil and water reserves. There are companies that have been issued licences by the National Government to explore the commercial viability of the oil reserves.

How much did it cost these companies to obtain licences from the National Government? And what percentage has been clawed back to the community through the County Government? What percentage would be sufficient to meet the cost of feeding, clothing and sheltering the people of this County from their God-given resources?

There is nothing wrong with exploiting natural resources but people should not be exploited. Communities in counties with natural resources should directly benefit from these resources through their county government and indirectly from the National Government. It is for this reason, and no other, that devolution was conceived.  Kilifi has titanium and iron ore reserves, mangrove forests, and Sabaki River. Garissa has Arawale and Boni national reserves, and limestone deposits. Narok County has the celebrated Masai Mara National Park. Mombasa has the largest tourism traffic. Kitui has coal deposits. The picturesque and second tallest mountain in Africa is in Nyeri as is the Aberdare National Park. The Chania and Fourteen Falls are in Thika. Shaba National Reserve is in Samburu County. Mount Meru and the surrounding beautiful national park is in Meru. Makueni will soon be home to Konza ICT dream city. The Menegai Crater, Hell’s Gate park, Longonot Crater and the Lake Nakuru National Park are in Nakuru.

As a country, we have bountiful resources.  Human resources, man-made resources, wildlife, crops, land, minerals and other natural resources. For a long time these resources have been managed by the national government. How much the national government earned from these resources in the last 50 years, and to what extent, if any, the local communities have benefitted we will never know. That should and can change. The population of a county should benefit from its resources. This should be in terms of transfer of skills, transfer of technology, employment of local population and a share of the royalties or any licensing fees paid to the national government. The resources should not be depleted at the cost of the next generations of these counties. Much has been said about the utilisation of funds allocated to counties. Little has been said on whether the funds they have been allocated are adequate to match and follow the recurrent and development functions of each county.

The Constitution sets a minimum percentage of national revenue that should be allocated directly to county governments. In the current financial year, the amount of national revenue allocated to county governments was 15 per cent. The minimum.

The push and shove over funding of county governments by the national government is likely to be repeated every year till kingdom come. It is unlikely that this country will ever have such resources as will satisfy the demands of both national and county government projects. In its report, the taskforce on devolved government recommended that counties should be given adequate funds that match and follow their functions. 

Recognising that county governments may fail to receive such adequate financial support from the national government, the task force recommended that Parliament enacts such laws under Article  66 (2) that would require national government to give 30 per cent of all fees and royalties they receive from exploitation of natural resources to the county governments where these resources are allocated. Article 66 (2) of the Constitution gives Parliament the power to pass laws that ensure that investment in property by national government benefits local communities and their economies.

If such a law was in place today, it is unlikely Turkana County would require National Government to flag off food caravans to its rescue.