The irony of missing billions as hunger bites Northern Kenya

Carcasses of dead livestock in Liboi sub-county in Garissa. Northern Kenya is in the grip of a severe drought. [File, Standard]

Northern Kenya is in the grip of a severe drought with many residents facing starvation.

As livestock dies daily from lack of pasture, the largely pastoralist communities are painfully watching as their livelihoods dwindle, with their county governments seemingly unable to turn around the dire situation.

The devolved units are instead pleading for humanitarian help yet all along, the county governments had the time and resources to mitigate against the calamity before it happened. 

 

The Northern Kenya counties have received billions of shillings since advent of devolution which were supposed to turn around the lives of locals for the better.

The residents find themselves facing same challenges they faced before the advent of devolution, with drought being among those that has affected them severely.

The five counties of Mandera, Garissa, Wajir, Marsabit and Isiolo are among areas considered to have been marginalised for many years and have been receiving additional funds on top of the equitable share  whose aim was to put them at par with those considered developed.

Since the onset of devolution in 2013 to 2025: Mandera has received Sh119.4 billion, Wajir Sh99.4 billion, Garissa Sh81.6 billion, Marsabit Sh77.2 billion while Isiolo has received Sh46.8billion which cumulatively translates to Sh 424.3 billion as the Equitable share revenue from the National Treasury.

The five counties have also received Sh4 billion through the Equalization Fund during the same period with Mandera receiving Sh958 million, Marsabit has received Sh831 million, Wajir has received Sh825 million, Garissa has received Sh768 million and Isiolo received Sh690 million.

Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua says the conditions in Northern Kenya region have deteriorated severely that even camels, which can endure some of the harshest environments on the planet.

Over the years, the governors of the five counties have been notorious for avoiding Senate oversight committees to account for the billions of shillings allocated to their administration by giving unsatisfactory reasons. They are accused of amassing massive wealth while in office.

The Senate County Public Accounts Committee Chairperson Moses Kajwang says senators are considering drafting a Motion to withhold funds from counties whose governors persistently avoid appearing before oversight committees to answer audit queries.

“The proposed Motion to withhold funds from counties where governors do not honour summons is one of the most tough measures senators are considering, alongside professional sanctions and criminal investigations for those with adverse audit opinions,” said Kajwang.

In a move to discipline county chiefs who have been playing cat and mouse games with the watchdog committees, the senators are also pressing the Inspector General of Police to arrest them and bring them before the committees.

The senators also want prosecution of the county bosses who fail to appear for audit over reports concerning their counties, especially on how they have utilized the resources disbursed from the National Treasury which are meant to ensure efficient services to the people.

Mandera governor Mohamed Khalif on Friday had a difficult time justifying before the Senate County Public Accounts Committee the usage of Sh55.9 million for tree seedlings in a county where, senators argued, is always dry throughout the year.

Kajwang said the county was suffering from drought yet the governor could not substantiate the usage of Sh349 million for relief food, Sh55.9 million for tree seedlings and Sh32.8 million for water trapping, which raised questions on the matters being given priority.

The governor said the county has farms and schemes along the river with over 6,000 registered farmers who were given the seedlings to plant, arguing that the funds had been used for the intended purposes and that there was value for money to the area residents.

In September last year, Garissa governor Nathif Jama appeared before the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) after being summoned to record a statement in connection with an ongoing investigation into the alleged mismanagement of Sh1.2 billion.

Jama was summoned to record his statement following allegations of embezzlement of public funds and irregular recruitment by the county government between October 2022 and June 2024.

The governor failed to appear before the Senate County Public Accounts Committee last Thursday to respond to queries raised by the Auditor-General in the audit report of the Garissa County Executive for the 2024/25 financial year.

“We have reviewed the request by the Garissa governor not appear before the Senate County Public Accounts Committee citing planned foreign travel for undisclosed reasons and we are of the strong view that the reasons given are not justifiable under the law,” said Kajwang.

Detectives from the EACC arrested former Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani, who served as Marsabit governor between 2017-2022 and incumbent governor Mohamud Ali over alleged embezzlement of Sh8 billion county funds in April 2024.

The money in question following the arrest of Yattani and Ali raises concerns bearing in mind the harsh climatic conditions that the people they serve face. If the billions of shillings they received since 2013 could put into better use, it could turn around the lives of the people.

Isiolo governor Abdi Guyo was put on the spot by Senate County Public Accounts Committee in May last year for creating unlawful employment positions by hiring 36 advisors against Salaries and Remuneration Commission recommendation of four advisors per governor.

Guyo was also pressed to explain why the executive hired 31 chief officers against the approved 18. It was also noted that each county executive committee member had five chief officers, each pocketing 255,000 shillings monthly as salary.

In May 2023,  Wajir governor Ahmed Abdullahi told the Senate that his administration was in the process of vetting the expenditure of Sh7.4 billion which he believed was suspect. He blamed the ballooning bills to workers whom, he said, could have sneaked fake invoices when he took over office.