The Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) expressed confidence that the recommendations they presented to parliament on county and national government revenue would be considered for implementation.
CRA commissioner Rose Osoro, said that the final draft on the sharing of revenue was received by the parliamentary budget committee and was done in consultation with the committee and residents in the counties.
“We believe what we have is what they will take. We came up with proposals and shared them to reduce further chances being made to the recommendations,” Ms Osoro said.
The commission attributes good revenue sharing to a formula that is simple, based on official data, minimizes inequalities, government finance responsibility and gives effects to the provision of the constitution.
The commission recommends sharing of the 203 billion for county governments on five parameters :Population 45 percent an equivalent of Sh 91.35 billion, equal share 25 per cent (Sh 50.75 billion), poverty levels 20 per cent (40.6 billion), land area 8 per cent (16.24 billion) and fiscal responsibility 2 per cent (4.06 billion).
According to Ms Osoro, high poverty level and the vast land in Turkana are the reasons the county is allocated high amounts of revenue, with dense population accounting for Nairobi’s high revenue allocation.
“We need to uplift poor counties to reach the others. We considered levels of poverty, that a person earning less than 200 is poor: in Nairobi they earn Sh 190 in Turkana Sh 15, they are not the same, therefore the amount cannot be same.” Ms Osoro added.
Nairobi County would receive the most revenue at Sh 10.1 billion, followed by Turkana at Sh 8.2 billion and Mandera at Sh 7 billion with the least Lamu at 1.6 billion and Isiolo at Sh 2.4 billion.
She also noted that Isiolo would however have the highest county per person allocation of Sh 16,669 and Nairobi the least Sh 3,236.
“If you divide the amount given with the population, you find Nairobi per person allocation will be low because of dense population of 3.1 million people unlike Isiolo that has a population of 101,539 people,” Ms Osoro said.
Ms Osoro also said that the basic fixed expenses for every county irrespective of size, population and poverty will be equal for all counties when they begin.
“All counties will be paid the same. The counties have not yet begun, but once they begin the differentiation in development will influence the basic equal share.” Ms Osoro added.
Addressing a forum at a Nairobi hotel, Ms Osoro said there is need for women to be educated on the importance of vying for political sits to avoid unnecessary expenditure.
According to the CRA commissioner, if the two thirds majority rule is not upheld, there will be an increase in costs, as nominated members may have to be increased.
Ms Osoro said that a ward is expected to have 1450 member with 492 as women, if the rule is not upheld the members will increase to 2188 and the county will have to incur a monthly cost of 221million.
“Kenyans must ensure we safeguard resources. Extra cost is born by the county not by the national government. The money allocated will not be increased for any addition in members,” Ms Osoro concluded.
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