This archive report was first published on 4 August 2020.
On August 4, the Senate reconvenes for the seventh time to debate a revenue sharing formula that has been a contentious issue for months, affecting service delivery in the 47 devolved units.
The Senate has previously failed to agree on a revenue-sharing formula proposed by the Finance Committee, chaired by Kirinyaga Senator Charles Kibiru, plunging counties into a near financial crisis.
Before the critical house sitting, National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani convened a virtual meeting with Senate Speaker Ken Lusaka, the majority leader, and the Council of Governors to discuss ways to ease the county governments' financial strain.
The Treasury agreed to release up to Ksh.29 billion that was not disbursed in the last financial year to enable counties to deal with urgent expenses such as June salaries, operational costs, and the purchase of medical consumables as the country battles the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, there was no resolution on a proposal to release to counties 50% of their share in the 2020/2021 budget based on last financial year's allocation, as recommended by the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) in case of a Senate stalemate.
Intense lobbying is underway, with the two opposing camps in the Senate working to keep their numbers intact and raid each other's territory ahead of the crucial vote.
Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja has proposed an amendment to the Finance Committee's formula, which would use allocation to each county in the last financial year as a baseline for present and future share of the county share, and any increased resources would be subject to a new formula.
Leaders from pastoralist communities have termed the Finance Committee's proposed formula a path for further marginalization, while leaders from populous counties have defended the formula, insisting it would address past injustices in sharing of the county funds.
