Major Cities in Kenya to receive Special Planning Funds

If a proposal by the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) is adopted, Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru and Eldoret will get KSh5 billion to build roads and provide water and health services starting in the year 2020-2021.

The CRA said that the additional conditional grant will be used to expand garbage management, water supply, sanitation and drainage systems.

The Commission says the cities are struggling to provide services with a projected financial gap of up to Sh184 billion hindering their efforts as population keeps growing.

Recently the residents of these cities have perennially grappled with flooded roads and burst sewer lines under heavy rains and a surge in informal settlements with poor access clean drinking water and sanitation.

In the recommendations last month the CRA said, “The Commission also recommends an allocation of a new conditional grant of KSh5 billion from the national government equitable share to finance urban services within the provision of the Urban Areas and Cities Act 2011,”

Population in the four cities rose 33 percent to 10.08 million in 10 years from 7.54 million in 2009 according to data by the Kenya National Bureau for Statistics.

Nairobi, the agency says, has additional functions that include hosting diplomatic missions and is the regional and international transport hub piling pressure on its ability to deliver services amid un-met own source revenue collections.

The five are recognized as the only cities under the Urban Areas and Cities Act.

The 47 counties got KSh22.8 billion as conditional grants in the current year which ends in June 2020.