Senators pass third basis revenue sharing formula

Senators have finally voted to approve the third basis revenue sharing formula among counties.

The approval was unanimously passed on Thursday afternoon by all the 41 senators present in the House. For several months, the senators have been disagreeing on the formula.

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The senate approved the third basis revenue sharing formula after the 12-member Senate Committee that was tasked with developing a win-win formula reached a consensus. To entice the senators, President Uhuru Kenyatta had pledged an additional Sh50 billion allocation to counties

The committee co-chaired by senators Johnson Sakaja (Nairobi) and Moses Wetangula (Bungoma) announced that it has come up with a comprised formula.

The proposed third basis revenue sharing formula takes into account eight parameters; Basic share (20 per cent), Population (18 per cent), Health (17 per cent), Poverty Level (14 per cent), Agriculture (10 per cent), Roads (eight per cent), Land (eight per cent) and Urban (five per cent).

In the new formula, Nairobi gains the highest amount with Sh3.3 billion to push its total allocation to Sh19 billion. The other top gainers are Nakuru (Sh2.5 billion), Kiambu (Sh2.2 billion) and Turkana (Sh2 billion). Lamu ‘s total allocation will shoot to Sh3.1 billion with Tharaka Nithi getting the least addition of Sh289 million. No county loses revenue in the proposed formula.