Politics

Raila Odinga Speaks His Mind On County Revenue Sharing And Allocation Formula

Published

10 months ago-

July 27, 2020

Former Prime Minister and ODM party leader Raila Odinga has declared his stand on the ongoing debate on county revenue sharing and allocation. The sharing and allocation of resources to the counties has been stalled for some time now even as senators fail to agree on the right formula to be used in the distribution. On his twitter handle, Odinga took note of the standoff that has characterized senate hearings for quite a while now, adding that the discussions were even taking a dangerous ethnic undertone.

“…This stand-off is causing paralysis and mistrust at a time the country needs to be united and singularly focused on fighting the grave pandemic currently threatening the lives and livelihoods of our people. It has also taken a dangerous ethnic undertone instead of being a level-headed debate on the nation’s development trajectory.“The revenue sharing formula that the senate has dead locked over is a variation of what was recommended by the Commission for Revenue Allocation (CRA), the body mandated under Article 216 (1) of the Constitution of Kenya, to come up with a formula,” read part of Odinga’s statement on his twitter handle.

“The key principle in the CRA recommendation on the third basis for revenue sharing for the next five financial years is that allocation should be population-driven. The CRA recommendation is based on an understanding that county governments are about service requirements of the population including in health, agriculture, infrastructure, education, among others.

“The senate made certain amendments to the CRA recommendation but equally retained the central principle that allocation must be about the population. Unfortunately, the institution has disagreed on its own amendments.

“Under the circumstances, the country and our people would be better served if we adopted the recommendation of the CRA for the next five years,” he added.

It is yet to be seen whether senators would accept this revenue sharing formula and end the stalemate currently being witnessed, or whether they would still persist on finding another way.