•A Senate committee has requested Treasury for additional Sh9 billion allocation to counties.
•Sources in the committee reveal the talks are far from over.
Senators are yet to agree to on the best formula to share revenue among counties one week after a 12-member committee was formed to try and resolve the standoff.
The committee has been haggling for days now with no end in sight over the controversial third basis for sharing revenue among counties.
According to sources privy to the happenings in the committee, the panel is ‘not anywhere near’ striking a deal after seven days of intense negotiations.
“One camp is flexible but the other is not. But it is still far because we are still considering simulations we have on the table,” a senator who is a member of the committee said.
The sources disclosed that the panel was waiting for Treasury CS Ukur Yatani’s response to the committee’s plea for additional Sh9 billion allocation to the devolved units.
The team, co-chaired by senators Moses Wetangula (Bungoma) and Johnson Sakaja (Nairobi) met the Treasury bosses and Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) last Friday where the request for additional allocation was floated.
“They have not responded to us but I can tell, it is only the Treasury, through additional allocation, that will resolve this stalemate. It is not that easy,” the senator said.
But the committee’s pursuit for additional resources appears bleak after President Uhuru Kenyatta last week appeared to throw cold water on additional allocation.
“This is not Uhuru’s money. This formula was crafted by the Commission of Revenue Allocation and went to the Senate, indicating that the revenue should be shared justifiably such that everyone gets their fair share.
“Why, then, should a resident of Korogocho or Embakasi be denied their right on the pretext that they live in Nairobi, which they consider a rich county, without the right to receive a specific rightful share of the revenue? Yet these individuals still make do with flying toilets. Truth and impartiality will eventually come out,” Uhuru said last Friday.
On Monday, it emerged that a special sitting initially schedule for Tuesday (today) has been called off pending the resolution of the stalemate by the committee.
“We don’t want to make it a joke that we will be meeting without a possibility of us agreeing, we will only meet if there is an indication from the committee that they have reached an agreement,” speaker Kenneth Lusaka said.
According to sources, counties that were gaining in the third basis for sharing revenue among counties have refused to budge, insisting on getting what they believe rightfully belongs to them.
Majority Chief Whip Irungu Kangata said the committee was set to receive submissions from the House leadership to try and hammer out an acceptable solution.
According to the Murang’a senator, “what is important is to get a solution rather than the speed of the process.”
“We will wait for as long as we can, because we just don’t want to hasten the process, but we want to arrive at the best possible solution for all counties” Kangata said.
The senate has failed to agree on the best formula in nine sittings with the sessions often characterized by high emotions and name calling.
The contentious formula proposed by the House Finance and Budget Committee has divided the lawmakers along the 'losers and gainers.'
Those whose counties are losing have vehemently opposed it saying the proposed formula will marginalise their areas.