Counties to get Sh210b after MPs pass bill

By ALLAN KISIA

Counties will receive Sh210 billion from the central Government after MPs unanimously passed an amendment to Division of Revenue Allocation Bill, 2013.

The figure represents 31.2 per cent of the total national budget of Sh721.6 billion. Members of the National Assembly raised the amount from Sh198 billion to Sh210 billion.

The mover of the amendment, Majority Leader Aden Duale, said the increase was in line with promises the Jubilee Government made during campaigns. “We had promised that the county governments would get 40 per cent of the national budget. For now, we have managed 31.2 per cent which is far above the minimum constitutional requirement of 15 per cent,” Duale stated.

The Bill will be transmitted to the Senate for consideration.  The Constitution states that revenue sharing is to be done on the total national tax revenue, with the supreme law setting a minimum of 15 per cent.

Duale noted that the increment followed an agreement struck by the National Treasury, Transitional Authority and the Commission for Revenue Allocation.

He was quick to point out that the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) will for the moment continue to be allocated 2.5 per cent of the national budget.

“CDF will be factored in the national budget and not the county budgets,” he explained. Duale noted that the 31.2 per cent was calculated from the audited revenue of the 2010/2011 financial year.

“We could not use the 2011/2012 figures because they were tabled in the House but they are yet to be approved,” he added.

Following the passing of the Leader of Majority’s amendments, Deputy Speaker Joyce Laboso dropped further proposed amendments on the same by legislators Abdikadir Aden (Balambala) and John Mbadi (Suba).

Kitutu Chache North MP Jimmy Angwenyi asked colleagues to guard the CDF and ensure it gets more funding. “CDF is further devolution to the grassroots. This is something that we must guard,” he stated.

Angwenyi asked Duale to initiate discussions with relevant authorities to increase CDF allocation from 2.5 to 6 per cent of the national budget. He supported the amendment and argued that county governments were still very young and thus should be supported fully.

He said the amount to counties should be increased every financial year. Mbadi supported the amendment saying it was a good start for the county governments. “We should think of giving more and more to our county governments,” he added.

The National Treasury was in the spotlight for scaling down revenue allocation to county governments.

All the county governments based their 2013/14 budget on the figures released by CRA.

However, the National Treasury had put the figure at Sh198 billion and tabled the Division of Revenue Bill 2013, which seeks to authorise sharing of revenue to the counties based on the revised figure.