Anxiety raised on formula on revenue allocation/FILE
Speaking during the launch on Tuesday, the stakeholders argued that the proposed two-percent allocation for fiscal discipline lacked criteria for containing corruption at the County level.
CRA Chairman Micah Cheserem however dismissed the concerns saying his commission was not charged with fighting corruption and that the electorate should ensure that the voted in credible leaders.
“If you do not vet your leaders and bring in honest governors, then they will steal your money because it is not our work to come and check it. If you vote in leaders because they slaughter bulls for you and throw parties, where do you think they’ll recover that money from?” he asked.
The stakeholders also warned the commission against relying on the population data released by the government on eight districts in parts of northern and eastern Kenya arguing that the numbers had anomalies.
They noted that population was one of the parameters that the CRA intended to use to allocate resources adding that there was need to ensure that the numbers used to determine resources reflected the situation on the ground.
Cheserem however revealed that the government intended to release the final census results of the 2009 exercise, which the commission would rely on to distribute resources.
“We’ve been told by the Minister for Planning that he is going to launch the final census in the next few weeks. Our commission will only use official statistics- those from the planning ministry and the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics,” he said.
Meanwhile, the United Republican Party wants the Constitution amended to increase the revenue allocated to counties increased from at least 15 percent to a minimum of 25 percent.
The CRA however maintained that it would only rely on the provisions set out under Chapter 12 of the Constitution.
“Our guiding principle is Chapter 12 of the Constitution so our formula has been proposed in the spirit of this Chapter,” Cheserem said.
Article 203 (2) of the Constitution says the revenue allocated to county governments shall be not less than 15 percent of all revenue collected by the national government.
The commission further called on Kenyans to submit their views on the proposed formula before the end of March, through social networks like Facebook and Twitter and also through e-mail.
Cheserem explained that the submissions would be considered by the commission before the formula is handed over to Parliament in April.
“We want the public to engage us with regard to this formula so that we can know what concerns they have and also have public participation,” he said.
Other parameters that will be used to allocate resources include County size and poverty indices.
Once the formula is determined, it will remain fixed for three years before it is reviewed.
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