Tharaka Nithi Senator, Kithure Kindiki on Monday, August 3 proposed a solution to the revenue sharing standoff in the Senate and vowed to shoot down the current formula.
Kindiki who has been a strong opposer of the third basis formula for sharing revenue among counties asserted that he would not back down ahead of the Tuesday, August 4 debate.
"Tomorrow, we shall once more shoot down the discriminative formula meant to demean some parts of our Nation and replace it with a fair approach to sharing of nationally raised revenue.
"Just add 17Billion from the ever-increasing National Government Budget and disburse it to the Counties, and no part of Kenya shall complain. Monies allegedly stolen from just the anti-Corona interventions is enough to solve this issue," noted Kindiki.
The former Deputy Senate Speaker asked Senate Majority Chief Whip Irungu Kang’ata to stop threatening senators with party disciplinary action but engage them soberly for an amicable solution.
Sparsely populated counties are set to lose up to Ksh17 billion which will be split by the rest of the counties as the new formula advocates for the one vote one shilling vote rather than the size of the county.
North Eastern counties are some of the biggest losers in the new revenue allocation bill with Kindiki citing different parts of the world where arid and semi-arid areas have managed to develop.
"The counties being presently mocked as unproductive deserts, bushes, thickets and sand hold the key to the future growth and prosperity of Kenya: ask USA (California), UAE (Dubai) and Eilat (Israel)," asserted Kindiki.
The Senator also noted that once the impasse is solved, attention will be shifted to the 85% of National revenue that he claims is being distributed unconstitutionally.
"Once this battle for equitable distribution of 15% of our National revenue is dispensed with, we shall turn to the even more critical struggle for the application of articles 201, 202(1) and 203 to the 85% of the revenue left for the National Government which is often unconstitutionally allocated whimsically without any regard to spatial equity," he noted.
On Tuesday, July 28, senators failed for the sixth time to adopt the formula for sharing Sh316.5 billion allocated to the 47 counties even as the devolved governments continue to face a financial crisis.
Nairobi Senator Johnsone Sakaja also offered an alternative to the revenue allocation formula with his proposal having two components whereby the counties will each equally get the Sh316.5 billion.
The equitable share will then form a baseline for further additional allocation during the three years that revenue generation formula will be in place.
