All the 47 counties are licking their respective chops as they await the flow of fresh resources following release of the long-awaited revenue-sharing formula by the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA).
The fight to persuade the Central Government to give regions a fair share of their contribution to the national coffers and re-distribute resources equally has culminated into the revenue-sharing formula many hope will help to solve all the problems of unequal allocation of national resources in the country.
All the problems, of course, except for loans solicited from the domestic market or international financiers, which revenue sharing can hardly be expected to sort.
The new formula for revenue sharing is one of the fairest, well thought out and scientific proposals ever to come down the commission’s pike.
The Commission’s chairman Micah Cheserem says the formula has five parameters, each with a percentage weighting. The parameters are county population (60 per cent), equal share component (20 per cent), poverty levels (12 per cent), land area (six per cent) and fiscal discipline (two per cent).
Using the 2011/2012 budget, Sh90 billion would be shared among the counties based on their population, Sh30 billion as equal share, Sh18 billion on poverty levels and Sh9 billion on land mass. The rest of the money would be allocated based on fiscal discipline.
Needs per county
It would have been immodest to assume that all the 47 counties will incur equal running expenses. This is why a blanket allocation of resources would have been unfair, especially if you consider the different sizes, population densities and needs per county.
Since we are not aware of a better formula in the current circumstances, we would like to hail the proposal even as we urge other Kenyans to heed the commission’s call and indulge in further debate over the same. Any thoughts and ideas that can add value to the CRA formula should indeed be welcome.
As we have stated in this forum before, the process of implementation of the New Constitution requires harambee of thoughts. That is why we believe that any thoughts that add value to the current proposal will go a long way in helping to push a positive agenda for our country’s development.
Admittedly, the 20 per cent equal share component that the counties are expected to derive from the formula will come at an auspicious moment-just as governors who are expected to lead the counties have been elected by the people.
The two per cent benefit to be awarded as a result of fiscal discipline offers extra incentive for proper usage of revenue within the devolved units.
Actually, the two per cent carrot is a bait to encourage better resource utilisation. It means that counties that misuse revenue will have their allocation reduced by two per cent.
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This provision will help with accountability because it will be a great disincentive to crooks and wayward politicians seeking their way to governorship positions in order to steal funds from their respective governments.
With the current budget of more than Sh1 trillion, governors would be directly in charge of Sh150 billion, more than Sh3billion per county on average before the allocation criteria announced Tuesday is taken into account.
The formula will go a long way in pacifying regions that have always felt left out when it comes to sharing of national revenues.
The strongest urging for revenue sharing has always come from areas like the Coast that feel they always give out more than what they receive.
The infusion of funds from the Central government could help rectify the situation.
Elective post
As we have stated before, we feel the proposed formula offers good backbone to any further dialogue about sharing of resources in our country. But because the debate has begun it’s only proper to ask politicians not to introduce self-serving arguments into the broth.
Politicians have not been reliable in past debates, especially on issues that involve elective offices. At some point, we believe the debate over the revenue sharing formula will find its way to Parliament.
We hope for peaceful deliberations, but if parliamentarians are unable to do this, other Kenyans should be allowed to do so.
Majority of Kenyans have been yearning for devolution of resources and this formula offers them the perfect opportunity to make this dream come true.
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