No deal yet as Senate debates final formula
The country is poised for the final showdown in the Senate today after lawmakers failed, for the umpteenth time, to reach an agreement yesterday over the controversial revenue sharing formula despite spirited lobbying by both sides of the House.
While a group led by Majority Whip Irungu Kang’ata maintained they will back the formula as proposed by the Finance and Budget committee, another faction held they will not budge in support of changes put forward by Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja and Narok counterpart Ledama ole Kina.
Senate Speaker Kenneth Lusaka has declared the lawmakers have no choice but to dispense with the matter when it is subjected to a vote today.
Kang’ata yesterday said the Sakaja amendment, which is in favour of the status quo, was out of question describing it as “the worst”.
According to Kang’ata, the House was working on a new amendment that will appeal to all senators.
This, he said, leaves the House with the amendment by Meru Senator Mithika Linturi, which reduces the margins of the cash being gained or lost by a county.
“Some people have suggested we should go with Linturi’s proposal that is far much better than Sakaja’s, which was the worst, but we are working on something better.
The Sakaja one is already down, he is finished. His case has been closed by the Linturi proposal,” the Murang’a Senator said.
The Linturi amendment seeks to reduce the amounts counties in the sparsely populated regions are set to lose while also slashing the amounts the densely populated counties are set to gain.
The amendment, if passed, will see Mandera county lose only Sh245 million as opposed to a whopping Sh2 billion proposed by the Third Basis formula.
Under the same proposed amendment, Kiambu County, which is expected to gain close to Sh1.2 billion if the Third Basis formula is applied, will end up gaining only Sh300 million more, the sources revealed.
The proposed amendment will see the remaining counties gain or lose Sh100 million depending on their demographics.
Narok’s ole Kina maintained that the Sakaja amendment must carry the day but if more money will be allocated to counties, the recommendations by the Commission on Revenue Allocation will be considered.
More proposals
“Counties should continue getting the cash, which they received, in the previous year. We are going to continue to discuss the agenda that is on the table, which is the Sakaja proposal.
If others bring more proposals, we will discuss them after dispensing with the Sakaja one,” said Ole Kina whose proposals were almost similar to his Nairobi counterpart’s.
People Daily learnt that three senators who were previously allied to the camp opposed to the Third Basis formula had defected to the rival camp.
They include Anwar Loitiptip (Lamu), Prof Sam Ongeri (Kisii) and Philip Mpaayei (Kajiado).
But the Sakaja camp had also managed to bag the support of three other senators who previously supported the Third Basis formula.
They are Linturi, Kericho’s Aaron Cheruiyot and Christopher Lang’at (Bomet), restoring its slim majority of 25 senators.
Kiambu Senator Kimani Wamatang’i, who has been the face of the one-man-one-vote-one-shilling push since 2014 when he sued CRA over unfairness to populous region, yesterday maintained that all Kenyans get equitable allocation of resources, saying since the advent of devolution, populous counties perceived to be developed have been getting insufficient cash.
The senator maintained that the new formula should be passed but implementation shelved for one year, adding that even with the proposed formula, the difference will be very small, noting that for Kiambu, the per capita allocation will rise by a paltry Sh1,000.
“If there are people who should be complaining loudly are we the people of Kiambu because our allocation per resident is about Sh4,000 once this formula is passed. Before it was Sh3,700.
Who is more aggrieved here? I cannot even tell them loudly that I am fighting for them because they have been getting Sh3,700 and someone in Tana River is receiving Sh21,000 yet they benefit from the Sh26 billion Equalisation Fund,” Wamatangi said.
Loud complaints
Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei, whose county is gaining close to Sh800 million if the new formula is passed, was of the view that for equity and fairness in revenue distribution, the House should support the method suggested by the Finance team chaired by his Kirinyaga counterpart Charles Kibiru.
“On Tuesday (today) we will pass the motion to increase allocations to counties as proposed by the committee.
Many people have argued what happens to the so-called losing counties and we are telling them that we have a cure.
We will operationalise the Equalisation Fund, which is an affirmative fund that is specifically meant for counties that are marginalized, arid and semi-arid,” he said.
But speaking separately, counties in northern Kenya under the auspices of The Frontier Counties Development Council urged senators to use the “voice of reason” and vote on a formula that will be fair, just and one that will unite Kenyans.
The council through their assembly speakers reiterated that the so-called marginalised counties contribute greatly to the economy, through livestock, tourism, extractives and energy sector and should, therefore, not be left out in revenue sharing.
“As Kenyans, we should all be concerned, sensitive and committed to eradicating poverty.
We should consider seriously increasing more allocation to the poor regions than reduce the amount; these areas were deliberately made poor due to bad governance policies and should not be made to suffer even more,” said the group led by Marsabit County Assembly Speaker Mathew Lotome.
They further warned that by cutting allocations, ongoing projects in the counties will stall and a huge amount of money already spent will be lost.
“By doing so, the government will push locals deeper into poverty and create more challenges,” Lotome told a press conference at a Nairobi hotel.
The council consists of representatives from Mandera, Marsabit, Garissa, Lamu, Tana River, Turkana, Samburu, Isiolo, West Pokot and Wajir counties.
