This archive report was first published on 3 August 2020.
On Monday, during the Good Morning Kenya show aired on KBC Channel 1, Hon. Steve Simba, Embu County Assembly Deputy Speaker and Member of County Assembly (MCA) of Runyenjes Ward in Embu County, emphasized the importance of Senators taking a leading role in the Division of Revenue bill debate.
According to Simba, Senators have a constitutional responsibility to ensure that revenue is allocated fairly across counties. He urged them to put aside politics and work towards a solution to save the financial challenges facing the counties.
“Counties are already financially drained, very soon workers are going to strike due to unpaid salaries,” Simba stated, highlighting the urgency of the situation.
Simba also suggested that the Senate should consider the parameter of population when allocating revenue, with the lion’s share going to counties with larger populations.
However, he alluded to the main challenge in implementing the division of revenue bill as political competition between Senators and sitting Governors.
“The reason why there is always a crisis in revenue sharing is because of politics. Most of the Senators want to be Governors and they feel that if the sitting Governors are allocated more money their work will be super and they will not be able to outsmart them,” Simba said.
The Senate will reconvene on 4th August 2020 to adopt an amendment by Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja which seeks to retain the current revenue allocation formula for counties.
