Wetang'ula says revenue sharing formula stalemate to impact budget
Business
By
Antony Gitonga
| Mar 11, 2024
National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula, has warned that failure to resolve the revenue sharing formula stalemate for the 2024/25 Financial Year could jeopardise the budget cycle.
The Speaker called on the Council of Governors (CoG), the national government and Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) to urgently seek consensus on the matter.
With the governors seeking Sh450 billion, Wetang'ula wants a cost analysis of the transferred functions undertaken to know the cost of running counties.
This emerged at the close of the three-day Intergovernmental Relations Symposium in Naivasha that was organised by the Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee (IGRTC).
READ MORE
KWS says new rules go beyond fee changes
Why Kenya must never look back on free education, CBE
Ruto's push to protect Big Tech sparks constitutional showdown
Top names set for fierce battle as autocross action heads to Stoni Athi
Sh400m fraud case: Tycoon's nephew ordered to appear in court 'on crutches or ICU bed'
Why State should not pay families of kin killed by police less than Sh150m each
Harambee Stars striker Ogam to move to Austrian Bundesliga Side Wolfsberger AC
Ruto rallies nation to back Kenya's dream of becoming a sports powerhouse
Nairobi Comesa summit to boost intra-African trade, open up markets
In a speech read on his behalf by Ugenya MP David Ochieng, Wetangula lauded the ongoing talks chaired by the Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua with view of unlocking the impasse.
He said that the answer to unlocking the stalemate lay in addressing the governor's call for more funding vis-a-vis appreciating the tight fiscal space of the country.
In his speech, the Speaker noted that the disagreement on what should be the equitable share of revenue occurred nearly every year, adversely affecting county plans.
"A cost analysis of the transferred functions should be undertaken so that it is clear on what are the exact costs of running county governments," he said.
Wetangula noted that the CoG demands were based on the rising cost of inflation, high cost of running counties, enhanced NSSF contributions, the Social Health Insurance and the Housing Levy contributions.
"The national government is also experiencing reduced revenue growth coupled with huge expenditure incurred towards financing repayment of debts," he said.
He challenged counties to devise new ways of increasing own source of revenue to bridge the revenue gap saying that the current dispute was largely about financing of the counties.
The Speaker expressed concern over increased disputes between the two levels of government despite elaborate provisions of the law on dispute settlement mechanisms.
"Disputes between the two levels of government have often threatened to dilute the objects of devolution and always find their way in the courts of law," he said.
IGRTC Chairman Kithinji Kiragu, called for coordination and co-operation between the two levels of government to ensure seamless transfer of devolved functions.
He said that majority of the functions had already been devolved as per the Constitution and assured that committee would meet its set deadline for the remaining functions.
"The President has given us 60 days to make sure that all pending devolved functions are transferred to counties, and this shall be done by the end of March," he said.