This archive report was first published on 16 July 2019.
On July 16, 2019, the Kenyan government published a new version of the Division of Revenue Bill, 2019, which is set to be introduced in the National Assembly on Tuesday next week.
The bill allocates Sh316 billion as the equitable share for the 47 county governments, a figure that is likely to be contested by the Senate.
Earlier this year, the older version of the bill, which had Sh310 billion for counties, failed to pass due to disagreements between the National Assembly and Senate over the division of revenue.
According to National Assembly majority leader Aden Duale, the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) is largely to blame for the impasse on the bill.
“The commission has been making recommendations based on non-realisable revenues and has been wearing hats of the National Assembly and Senate by promising counties unrealistic figures and actually sitting on the division table and negotiating on the divisions,” Duale said.
He further stated that the non-realisable revenues being proposed by the CRA will in the end hurt the national government, as it will absorb the effects of the missed targets.
The revised figure was announced a day after governors moved to the Supreme Court to file a petition, led by Council of Governors chairman Wycliffe Oparanya and vice-chair Mwangi wa Iria.
