Kenyan pastoralists losing out on Equalization Fund

The Equalization Fund was set up by the Government of Kenya (GoK) to address the marginalisation and low level of infrastructure in the North. It provides for annual appropriation of 0.5% of all revenue collected by the GoK to use in improving basic services such as water, roads, health facilities and electricity for communities in this part of the country to bring the quality of services to the level of that in other communities in Kenya. The brief “Marginalised communities losing on opportunity: the need for efficiency of Equalization Fund” (2017, 4pp) by Jarso Guyo Mokku explains the urgent need to improve the efficiency of the Equalization Fund in order to ensure that marginalised pastoralists do not lose out on the benefits that come with the Fund.

It describes the experiences with the Fund to date, the role of the Kenyan Pastoralist Parliamentary Group (PPG) and some major concerns, including considerable delays in fund allocation, lack of clarity over the use of the high level of administration expenses, and whether the additional resources indeed reduce marginalisation of the pastoralist communities. A major concern is the lack of proper public participation and transparency in allocation and use of the Fund. The brief provides recommendations to maximise the potential of the Fund.

The brief was brought out by the PPG together with the CELEP partner organisation DLCI (Dryland Learning and Capacity Building Initiative for Improved Policy and Practice in the Horn of Africa).

Posted on 8 February 2018 in Pastoralism & Services, Pastoralism, Policy & Power