Nairobi News

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County wards to benefit from new law

December 7th, 2013 2 min read

You could soon have your water, roads, education and health projects financed at the ward level.

Money will be set aside from the overall County Budget every year to fund such projects, according to a new Bill.

The Wards Development Fund Bill (2013) will prioritise community projects, which residents will choose at compulsory public forums.

It will be made up of five per cent of the City County budget, meaning the first kitty will amount to Sh1.27 billion, if the bill is enacted by the County Assembly. The Nairobi County budget for the current financial year is Sh25.4 billion.

Population

Eighty five per cent of the money (Sh1.07 billion) will be shared equally among the 85 wards, while 15 per cent will be shared according to population sizes of the various wards. This means each ward will get at least Sh12.6 million every year.

The Private Member’s Bill, the first ever by a County Assembly Member  is written by Umoja One County Rep Njoroge G. Maina. It is gazette and will be tabled at the county assembly any time from now.

The Bill proposes creation of the fund to give teeth to County Reps on development matters. Although, it borrows heavily from the Constituencies Development Fund allocated by the national government, the new Bill will strictly handle projects allowed under the fourth schedule of the constitution.

The bill proposes that 15 per cent of the allocation should go to fund the bursary kitty, meaning it could allocate each ward at least Sh1.8 million annually. Three per cent will go to operations, sports (2 per cent) and civic education (2 per cent). It caps equipment and vehicle operation costs at 3 per cent.

The proposed Bill gives the County Rep the power to appoint the chairman of the Ward Development Fund Committee, which will be composed of seven members.

Such members will include two men and two women and one from each has to a youth to represent each of the interest groups. Religious organizations will also be represented. The Ward Administrator will be the secretary.