Kirinyaga Kanu supporters have told the Senate they will not expect anything short of ‘one man- one vote-one shilling’ revenue allocation formula to the 47 Counties.
The supporters said the current formulae were not only discriminative but oppressive to the counties which are highly productive and densely populated.
Led by the local Kanu chairman Mwangi Gathungu, the supporters asked those Senators opposed to the proposed new formulae to reconsider their positions and join the majority.
Speaking to the media at his rural Kagio home Thursday on behalf of the party membership from the area, the official said he was irked by the conduct of those senators opposed to the new revenue sharing formula.
“We can’t allow some counties which are vast in area but thinly populated to continue receiving huge sums of money yet they even do not contribute anything to the national revenue kitty while the key producers are denied the much needed revenue to make them even generate much more for the country,” Gathungu said.
He said since the equalization fund was still in place, such senators should wait for it and stop putting roadblocks to the adoption of the new formulae which is actually overdue.
Gathungu cited an example of Mwea Constituency in Kirinyaga County where the population is over 200,000 and whose benefit from the CDF kitty was even less than some counties in the Northern Province.
“Mwea, alone is well known to produce rice worth over Sh 10 billion per year but only about Sh 4 billion is sent to the county not to mention earnings from tea, coffee, horticulture and the dairy sector,” he said.
He asked the Senate to sober up when the matter comes to the House on Tuesday next week and pass the new formula whose implementation should take immediate effect.
“As KANU supporters and officials, we are for the adoption of the new revenue allocation formula where population density is the determinant and not area mass,” he stressed.
The debate is so hot and contentious that it has threatened to break up both the handshake and the BBI.
By Irungu Mwangi
