Prime Minister Raila Odinga has asked Senators to pass the formula proposed by the Commission on Revenue Allocation. Deputy President on the hand called for review of the formula and therefore going against Mt Kenya region that is pushing for the passage of the Bill as it is. This move by Ruto has exposed him and that his love for Central Kenya is not genuine.
In a statement, Raila said that the Senate should allow the country to move forward after failing to agree on it own amendments.
“Under the circumstances, the country and our people would better served if we adopted the recommendation of the CRA for the next five years,” he said.
Raila said that the other issues being raised can be forwarded to the CRA, which he said is mandate by the Constitution to handle the matter, for future consideration.
The ongoing revenue formula debate is unnecessarily divisive.The Constitution envisages fair and equitable sharing of all our resources.The legislature MUST as per its MANDATE structure a WIN-WIN formula that is sensitive to proposals made without hurting any county. INAWEZEKANA.
— William Samoei Ruto, PhD (@WilliamsRuto) July 27, 2020
The ODM leader’s statement comes at a time when Senators are engaged in a war of words with those from Jubilee who support the formula saying that ODM is going against the handshake.
President Uhuru Kenyatta had asked the Senators to pass the formula as proposed by the CRA in order to allow for the disbursement of the funds.
However, counties that are to lose some allocation under the new formula have been asking for amendments.
But in his statement, Raila said that the CRA had built the new formula on lessons from a comprehensive review of the second revenue sharing basis.
“The resources currently being recommended can adequately serve our counties if we eliminate corruption in addition to heavily punishing those perpetuating the vice both at the national and county levels,” he said.
He added; “Luckily, the war on corruption is yielding fruits and should safeguard public finances.”
Raila said the country must also focus on encouraging counties to raise own source revenues from the economic activities within the county and demand a prudent usage of those resources.
