NAIROBI, Kenya, May 15 – Tana River Senator Danson Mungatana has scoffed at Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua following his assertions to support the one vote, on one man one-shilling revenue sharing formula proposal.
Addressing the media, the Tana River Senator said the move is retrogressive aimed at drawing back the efforts of prioritizing marginalized counties in the country by pushing for application of the 1965 sessional policy.
Mungatana warned if the Deputy President maintains his position, they will rally lawmakers to support one vote, one man, one-kilometer revenue sharing formula.
“If you are planning to be President of this country you cannot ignore counties with small population, Presidents Daniel Arap Moi, Mwai Kibaki, Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto have never ignored us, anybody trying to ignore us, will be doing it at his own peril,” Mungatana stated.
With the inception of devolution in the country he said that the discrimination of arid areas has been avert by bridging the development gap since independence.
Mungatana insisted that the sentiments by the Deputy President is not the official position of Kenya Kwanza Alliance saying the proposal on the revenue sharing formula will divide the nation.
“When you talk of one constituency having 300,000 people and should therefore benefit more at the expense of another one with 14,000 people you should remember those with high population have been developing at the expense of the marginalized areas for many years,” said Mungatana.
He termed the proposal by the Deputy President as insensitive asserting that leaders from marginalized counties cannot allow the politics of division and segregation to see the light of day.
“The head needs the heart, the heart needs the kidney, the kidney needs the liver, and all parts of the body are important, all Kenyans matter notwithstanding where they come from are very important and should not be looked down by anyone,” said Mungatana.
The Deputy President insisted that he will push for the adoption of the one-man-one-vote- one-shilling formula to ensure equity and fairness in the allocation of funds to the counties.
“For avoidance of doubt, in matters revenue sharing, Rigathi Gachagua, Deputy President of Kenya, is a believer and a proponent of one man, one vote, one shilling,” he said on Sunday.
Gachagua said it was unfair to have a constituency of about 800,000 people getting the same amount of County Development Fund (CDF) with one having a population of 14,000 residents.
“I agree on the need to allocate funds from the Equalization Fund. We have areas in this region like Mbeere, Kieni, Ndeiya that are semi-arid and have been forgotten. We must work on this, so they receive these funds,” Gachagua stated.
