Why governor opposes proposed CRA revenue sharing formula

Samburu Governor Lati Lelelit. [File, Standard]

Samburu Governor Lati Lelelit has rejected the proposed formula for revenue allocation by the Commission on Revenue Allocation.

The formula, to be implemented after approval of Parliament, emphasizes Population (42 per cent), Equal Share (22 per cent), Geographical size (9 per cent), Poverty (14 per cent), and income distance (13 per cent) as the five dominant factors.

It has revised the parameter downwards from eight to five, elevating the population factor from 20 to 42 per cent. Governor Lati said the CRA formula was catastrophic to sparsely populated counties. “The saving factor in the new formula is the 8 per cent earned from the exclusion of previously concealed population-based parameter (population 18 per cent, Urban 5 per cent, Agriculture 10 per cent, Health 17 per cent and 50 per cent population-based,” he said.

He, however, noted that the new formula has two tiny positives that is land mass up 1 per cent and equal share up by 2 per cent. “Inexplicably, both factors are somewhat offset by the inclusion of a nominal GCP factor weirdly named “income distance,” he said.

The governor, an accountant by profession, suggested that a better representation of the economic reality and diversity was to merge income distance and geographical size (13%+9%=22%) and capture it as one variable ordinarily named geographical size.

“With geographical size at 22% and population size at 42%…..to a certain degree….…the new proposed formula will address at about 50% the topical debate in our country of one man- one shilling vs one kilometre-one shilling,” he noted.

Lati said his proposal would then be standing at one-man-one shilling vs one kilometre-half a shilling, halfway to a more equitable society. “Resources needed to buy medicines for a bigger population correlate with resources needed to build and maintain roads for medicines to reach far-flung health facilities,” Lati said.