Senators from the Standing Committee on Finance and Budget on Tuesday, April 1, proposed the devolution of the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).
This proposal was raised after a meeting with KNBS Director General Macdonald Obudho raised major concerns on the accuracy of data being relied upon in making crucial decisions like the allocation of funds to counties.
After the Senators learnt that the bureau relies on the 2022 household budget survey data while coming up with the poverty line index in counties, the committee chair, Senator Ali Roba, urged the DG to consider devolving their services.
"The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics is the custodian of national data. Considering that the country relies on your data, you should consider devolving your functions so that you can collect credible, reliable, and dependable data at the county level,” Senator Roba stated.
Although Obudho expressed enthusiasm in adopting the idea, he cited low budgetary allocation as one of the reasons why this implementation was not possible at the moment.
The concerns were raised after the KNBS DG revealed the steps followed by the bureau to measure the poverty index in Kenya.
KNBS reportedly uses internationally recognised standards of measuring poverty by considering three measures based on the premise that poverty measurement involves comparing a welfare indicator—consumption per adult equivalent—against a pre-determined threshold, known as the poverty line
"While determining the annual poverty estimates in the country, the bureau considers the poverty headcount rate, depth of poverty, and severity of poverty," Obudho stated.
"We then choose the welfare measure of individuals and collect data on the household’s living standards. After that, we construct the welfare measure, define the poverty line threshold, and then determine the poverty measures of different counties."
He further noted that KNBS had already initiated a series of Household Budget Surveys to collect welfare information meant to facilitate the accurate computation of poverty and inequality indicators in the country.
This proposal comes even as the Senate considers the new fourth basis for revenue sharing among counties, which will have the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) consider, among others, the poverty level when disbursing funds to counties.
If implemented, the poverty level will account for 14 per cent of the revenue allocation. The population will account for 42 per cent, equal share 22 per cent, Income Distance 13 per cent, and geographic size will account for nine per cent.
