This archive report was first published on 6 August 2020.
Kenya Senate Forms Committee to Resolve County Revenue Dispute ¶
On August 6, 2020, the Kenya Senate leadership formed a nine-member technical committee to explore a compromise in the controversy surrounding the third criterion for sharing county revenue.
Deputy Speaker Margaret Kamar will chair the committee, which will include eight senators picked equally from both sides of the divide.
The majority and minority parties in the Senate are expected to meet on Thursday to pick their representatives to the team.
Speaker Kenneth Lusaka revealed the formation of the panel late on Thursday, after a meeting of the top House leadership, just a day after lawmakers adopted a motion suspending the debate to find consensus.
"We have decided to put up a small team which will retreat to Naivasha, starting today," Mr Lusaka told The Nation.
The team's terms of reference include discussing the two proposals on the table - the formula developed by the Commission of Revenue Allocation (CRA) and the report of the Finance Committee, which came up with a synthesised version after considering the CRA proposal.
The team will review the amendments to the committee report and changes suggested by individual senators.
Prof Kamar's team will then submit its findings to the Speaker's informal meeting, which has tentatively been set for either Monday or Tuesday morning, where they will share the findings with senators.
The final decision on the issue is expected on Tuesday before the House breaks for a month.
The formation of the committee comes barely a day after the House adopted a motion by Elgeyo-Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen to suspend debate on the formula.
It was the seventh time the lawmakers failed to make a decision on an issue that exposes the soft underbelly of sharing national resources and the attendant high octane politics.
The Finance committee's proposal has met opposition from counties mainly in arid and semi-arid regions and the coastal belt.
In the formula developed by the committee, Mandera, Wajir, and Marsabit are the three top losers.
Other losers will be Tana River, Garissa, Mombasa, Kwale, Narok, Isiolo, and Kilifi.
On the opposite end, Nandi would be the greatest winner with an expected additional allocation of Sh1.4 billion, followed by Uasin Gishu, Nakuru, Kakamega, Kiambu, Bungoma, Kirinyaga, West Pokot, Baringo, and Bomet.
At least seven proposals to amend the committee's report on the formula are on the table.
Senator Sakaja's amendment seeks to shield the counties from getting lesser allocation relative to what they received in 2019/20 financial year should the new proposal be approved.
Senator Githiomi Mwangi wants 70 per cent of total allocation to the counties shared equally by all the 47 counties, while the remaining 30 per cent to be subjected to the criteria developed by CRA with population and health index getting the lion share.
Senator Ledama ole Kina wants the 90 per cent of the allocation shared based on the criteria developed by CRA, while 10 per cent of the allocation should be used to cushion counties that will have reductions in their allocations compared to what they received in the last financial year until such a time when the equitable share will reach Sh395 billion.
