NAIROBI— Eldas MP Adan Keynan has declared the Equalization Fund dead, accusing governors and oversight agencies of diverting the kitty from its constitutional purpose and turning it into a cash cow for counties.
Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday in the presence of National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi, Keynan, who was part of the team that drafted the 2010 Constitution, gave a historical account of how Article 204 on the Equalization Fund was included.
He said the inclusion was a product of compromise at the Naivasha talks, where three groups were sharply divided between a pure presidential system, a pure parliamentary system, and a third group demanding devolution and resource equity.
“It’s unfortunate, especially for those of us who were part and parcel of the making of this particular article, just like my friend Hon. CS John Mbadi. We need to understand the history,” Keynan said. “At the wee hours of the night in Naivasha, when there was near disagreement, we said let there be a middle ground. We who wanted devolution said we must be given devolution and the Equalization Fund.”
Equalisation Fund is a cash cow for governors – Eldas MP Adan Keynan pic.twitter.com/HencDIGThG
— Kenyans.co.ke (@Kenyans) August 26, 2026
He noted the Fund was modeled on the 1948 Marshall Plan that the United States used to rebuild allies after World War II, and was anchored in Sessional Paper No. 10 of 1965 to address historical and constitutional marginalization.
Keynan questioned whether the current policy reflects the intent of the framers of the Constitution.
“Does the current Equalization Fund reflect the thinking of the framers of the Constitution? The answer is a big no,” he said. “What is your role as the man charged with protecting taxpayers’ money? You need to stop this.”
The veteran legislator accused the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) of altering both the letter and spirit of Article 204 under political pressure, expanding the number of beneficiary counties from 14 to 34 in the second policy without stakeholder consensus.
“Can the letter and spirit of the Constitution be altered by CRA because of pressure by the political class? That is exactly what the second policy did,” he posed. “If that is the case, are we duty-bound as Members of Parliament to continue funding the Equalization Fund?”
Keynan was categorical that the Fund has failed on the ground, challenging anyone to point to a single completed Equalization Fund project in Wajir County.
“There is no iota of even one project of equalization in Wajir, and I want to be challenged. To that extent, I want to declare the Equalization Fund as dead. Dead completely. Don’t waste your money. It’s a cash cow for governors,” he said.
“We cannot spend billions just to cover up the misdeeds of a clique.”
He argued that governors have used the Fund for projects meant to be financed from the equitable share, giving them leeway to misuse public funds, including construction of classrooms, despite education not being within the mandate of the Fund under Article 204.
Keynan urged CS Mbadi to halt further allocations until a fair and implementable framework is agreed upon by stakeholders, citing confusion over the interpretation of Article 204 and constitutional timelines that remain unmet.
He proposed the formation of a select committee of Parliament — the first since 2013 — to comprehensively address all issues surrounding the Fund, including its constitutionality, court challenges, demands by the Council of Governors, and the first and second CRA policies.
“I want to suggest that we form a select committee that will address all issues surrounding the Equalization Fund, so that once and for all we address this before the end of its constitutional term,” he said.
