Revenue debate continues after senator seeks Sh348bn for counties

The Senate Business Committee (SBC) has approved a motion by Nominated Senator Petronilla Were seeking to have the original formula developed by the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) adopted as the third basis for sharing revenue among counties.

However, the senator is proposing that the status quo remain and the CRA formula kick in when the equitable shareable revenue is raised to Sh348 billion.

“The simulations behind this principle ensures no one is losing. We all gain, some more than others (as expected) but no county suffers,” Ms Were says.

The senator’s motion brings to eight the number of amendments on the floor of the House as the push to have the new formula gets more complicated.

Besides the CRA original formula, there are amendments by the Committee on Finance and senators Ledama ole Kina, James Orengo, Kimani Wamatangi, Mwangi Githiomi, Abdullahi Ali and Johnson Sakaja.

The proposal

In the proposal, Ms Were wants the current second basis formula retained in sharing the Sh316.5 billion allocated to counties this financial year.

She further wants every county to get the exact amount of money received in the last financial year.

If the allocation is raised to Sh348 billion, the senator is proposing that the criteria of sharing be based on the population index (45 per cent), basic equal share (26 per cent), poverty index (18 per cent), land area (two per cent), fiscal effort (two per cent) and development factor (one per cent)

That motion has been approved for debate this afternoon sponsored by Senator Were.

Majority Whip Irungu confirmed the motion will be debated when the House resumes its sitting after a week’s break.

“It helps us move forward and ensure more resources follow functions to the counties,” he said.