• The one man - one shilling formula favours small counties with large populations
• The existing system make allowances for the land area of a county as well.
A big part of the upcoming Limuru 3 conference will be the debate over one vote - one shilling formula for distribution of local government resources.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua is a strong proponent of one man - one shilling but he is misguided.
The one person - one shilling formula will definitely favour smaller counties with highly concentrated populations like Nairobi, Kiambu and Mt Kenya. It will disadvantage larger counties with smaller populations like Lamu and the North-East.
That is why the existing system takes into account both population size and land mass. Definitely the 300,000 population of Kiambu should not be ignored in revenue allocation but nor should the huge areas of Lamu or Taita Taveta.
To be brutally honest, this is a Mt Kenya power play. As the largest ethnic group, the Kikuyu will benefit most if this formula is introduced. That is why Gachagua originally opposed this formula but is now supporting it in his bid to become the undisputed leader of Mt Kenya.
Let's stick to the existing revenue allocation formula which takes into account both population size and land area.
Quote of the day: "I came into the world very young, in an age that was very old."
Erik Satie
The French composer was born on May 17, 1866