CRA to draw up new formula for revenue sharing

Commission on Revenue Allocation will draw a new sharing formula for counties even as courts threw out a petition by County Assemblies seeking to quash budget ceilings.

County assembly speakers had moved to court seeking unlimited access to devolved funds.

The ruling will restrain MCAs and county assemblies from haphazard spending of public resources and allocating themselves more than the ceilings can allow.

And the decision by the Senate to reject the new CRA revenue-sharing formula is meant to create an equitable distribution method and spread government resources to all parts of the country.

Senators are insisting that a proposal presented by the CRA disregarded the needs of some counties by heaping more resources in counties yet they (resources) were not needed.

According to the CRA proposal, the current sharing formula where 45 per cent of the revenue set aside for a county is shared, based on the population followed by an equal share of 25 per cent of the funds, should be retained.

The rejection of a proposal for revenue sharing among counties by the Senate sends the commission back to the drawing board as it seeks to come up with a universally acceptable mode of distributing the money.

Senators Hargura Godana (Marsabit), Mohamed Kuti (Isiolo) and Boy Juma Boy (Kwale) said counties like Kakamega and Nairobi that have huge populations would get the lion’s share of the population funds at the expense of those with small populations.

“The population percentage should be reduced. It has been used since independence to marginalise areas with small populations yet they should be empowered to attract more investments,” said Mr Godana.

The land area parameter ensures that large counties, which incur high administrative costs in providing services, are given more resources.

However, the senators supported sharing some of the funds equally among the 47 counties, saying the move would cushion counties with limited population and land area.

Dr Boni Khalwale (Kakamega) blamed Sessional Paper number 10 passed in 1965 that locked out some parts of the country from development, resulting in the current situation where some counties are struggling with lack of infrastructure.

The Paper undermined development in arid and semi-arid regions when it declared that government priorities development and investment in high potential regions.

Dr Khalwale appealed to CRA Chairman Micah Cheserem to look into the senators’ views as captured in the House and make necessary adjustments before resubmitting the proposals to the Senate.

“Making of the formula to guide Treasury on how devolved funds are to be shared horizontally across counties is a preserve of the Senate,” Dr Khalwale said.

Prof John Lonyangapuo (West Pokot) said pegging a huge chunk of the allocations on population was not a fair way of sharing the revenue amongst counties.

“Costing for certain essential services like roads should be done to come up with better ways of funding their rehabilitation and opening up of new ones instead of sending money to counties to be squandered,” he said.