This archive report was first published on 3 August 2020.
Kenya's revenue allocation formula has undergone significant changes, with the third generation formula promising to bring about greater equality in resource distribution. However, the current system still perpetuates the notion of entitlement among certain counties, leaving others to struggle.
Take, for instance, the camel farming industry. In 2016, a local daily reported that the market price of a camel ranged from Sh12,500 for a simple male calf to Sh97,143 for a mature female. Two years later, in 2018, the sale of one camel fetched between Sh150,000 to Sh200,000, while a litre of camel milk cost Sh80 locally and Sh100 to Sh150 in supermarkets.
Camels are best suited to the Arid and Semi Arid Lands, particularly in the Northern Frontier Counties. A farmer can earn close to Sh1.2 million just from the local sale of camel milk. This raises questions about the notion of self-entitlement among certain counties, which consider themselves marginalized.
With a GDP that is nine times that of the North Eastern region, Nairobi receives nine times less than North Eastern at Sh36 billion and Sh45 billion respectively. This is despite the fact that Nairobi is a densely populated region, requiring more resources to cover for the whole population. Meanwhile, North Eastern is a sparsely populated region but receives the lion's share of the National Cake.
It is time to stop the notion of entitlement in resource distribution. The third generation formula of revenue allocation, which includes ten parameters such as population, poverty indices, and land mass, promises to bring about greater equality in resource distribution. By ensuring an equalization of all counties, all Kenyans will be entitled to an equal share of revenues disbursed.
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