• Kenyans in need of services were subjected to Senate intrigues in the politicised revenue-sharing debate that revealed the 'August' House is hardly august.
•The Senate had failed to pass the Revenue Bill a record 10 times. Then Uhuru sweetened the pot with Sh53 billion and changes were deferred. No county lost funding.
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Image: STAR ILLUSTRATED
Bribery claims, arrests, tears, intimidation - and no money.
These were some of woes Kenyans were subjected to during the roller-coaster Senate revenue-sharing debate in August and September.
As lawmakers argued, postured and politicked, counties were starved of cash during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Finally, there was agreement on September 17 after President Uhuru Kenyatta sweetened the pot with Sh53.5 billion, compromises were made and agreement reached to delay painful cuts. Supporters were banking on the BBI referendum approval to increase county allocations to 35 per cent.
No county loses in the short term. The amount to be shared was Sh316.5 billion, before Uhuru's sweetener, which will be factored into the 2021-22 budget.
Meantime, Kenya was nearly brought to a standstill and the Council of Governors said counties would shut down if the Senate didn't swiftly resolve the politicised impasse.
The Senate had failed an unprecedented 10 times to pass the Revenue Bill, aka third-generation formula, that would base allocations primarily on population.
This would benefit President Uhuru Kenyatta's populous Mt Kenya backyard and other regions. It would disadvantage ODM leader Raila Odinga's traditional strongholds of Coast and areas with huge landmass and smaller population.
Raila, traditional champion of the downtrodden, wants the Mt Kenya vote.
Marginalised areas complained Raila had abandoned them. They stood to lose Sh17 billion.
The ODM boss backtracked, said he'd just returned from a trip and had been misinformed. He called for compromise.
There were claims senators from disadvantaged counties were bribed to shoot down the state's favoured formula. They denied wrondoing.
THE FORMULA
Critics said that formula would sow division among Kenyans. They recommended other weighted parameters such as health, agriculture, poverty, land area, roads and infrastructure.
The debate caused a storm.
The formula determines county allocations for five years until 2023-24.
The formula is based on 10 parameters: health (17 per cent), agriculture (10), other county services (18), basic minimum share (20), land area (eight per cent), roads (four), poverty (14), urban services (five), fiscal effort (two) and fiscal prudence (two).
ARRESTS
During the period of debate some legislators were arrested in what they termed as intimidation.
Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala - a critic of the state formula - was arrested on August 17 after a 10-hour standoff. He was driven from Nairobi to Mumias to face charges of violating Covid-10 containment measures.
He had been addressing a crowd and distributing sanitiser.
Malala and counterparts Bomet’s Chris Langat and Samburu’s Steve Lelegwe were arrested and driven to their counties for grilling.
They opposed the formula backed by the state and by Raila.
The arrests triggered a storm. Some senators accused state functionaries of 'unleashing terror' on their colleagues holding divergent views.
Senators immediately linked the trio's arrest to the deadlocked debate on the contentious formula.
Malala broke down in tears before the Senate Security and Intelligence Committee, saying he was the target of an assassination plot.
'ONE KENYA'
The senators, whose counties were set to lose Sh17 billion in the disputed state-backed formula, teamed up to approve amendments to the proposal.
Known as 'One Kenya', they pushed through amendments to change aspects of the formula.
In the amendments, Senator Mithika Linturi of Meru reduced the baseline (equal share) from Sh316.5 billion as proposed by Nairobi's Johnson Sakaja to Sh270 billion.
Linturi suggested other parameters should apply to the difference - Sh46.5 billion.
Sakaja suggested the entire Sh316.5 billion allocated to the 47 counties in the current financial year be shared equally.
In the Linturi proposal, 19 counties would lose Sh1.8 billion, down from Sh17 billion contained in the disputed formula proposed by the House Finance and Budget Committee.
Losers in the Linturi proposal would be Mandera (Sh245.2 million), Kwale (Sh177.9 million), Wajir (Sh175.6), Marsabit (Sh156.9 million), Kilifi (Sh153.4) and Mombasa (Sh135.1 million).
COUNTIES STALEMATE
CoG chairman Wycliff Oparanya announced all county services would be paralysed after the senators failed to agree.
He said county health facilities will not permit any new admissions.
All non-essential services were suspended and county employees advised to proceed on leave for two weeks.
He said county staff, including frontline health workers, had not been paid for three months.
TEAM FORMED
The Senate failed in 10 sittings to approve the formula after a section of the lawmakers whose counties would lose money in the proposal, rejected it.
In the disputed formula proposed by the House Finance and Budget Committee, 18 counties were losing Sh17 billion from their allocation last year.
Because of the wrangles and standoff, a team was formed to come up with a compromise formula.
The committee included Senators Sakaja, Kipchumba Murkomen (Elgeyo Marakwet), Mutula Kilonzo Jnr (Makueni), Susan Kihika (Nakuru), Samson Cherargei (Nandi), Moses Kajwang' (Homa Bay), Ledama Olekina (Narok), Moses Wetang'ula (Bungoma), Anwar Loitiptip (Lamu), Stewart Madazyo (Kilifi), Nderitu Kinyua (Laikipia) and Mahamud Mohamed (Mandera).
The committee haggled for days without agreement.
‘NOT MY MONEY’
President Uhuru Kenyatta distanced himself from the standoff.
“This is not Uhuru’s money. This formula was crafted by the Commission on Revenue Allocation and went to the Senate. The revenue should be shared justifiably such that everyone gets their fair share,” Uhuru said.
Deputy President William Ruto, on the other hand, appealed for a formula that would not disadvantage any of the 47 counties but ensure devolution is strengthened.
"It should be guided by a win-win situation whereby populous counties get their fair share of revenue just as those considered marginalised or geographically small,” Ruto said at his Sugoi home in Uasin Gishu.
Raila said the standoff deprived counties of resources to operate. He urged senators to expeditiously resolve the matter.
“Revenue sharing has taken a lot of time in the Senate. The standoff is interfering with county services," he said.
IT’S A YES!
The 12-member Senate committee tasked with developing a win-win formula after the President pledged an additional Sh50 billion allocation to counties, reached a consensus.
On September 17, senators unanimously approved the third basis for revenue sharing.
All 41 senators present voted to approve the formula.
The formula considers 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).
No county loses revenue.