Tana River Senator Danson Mungatana has expressed disapproval towards Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s advocacy for a ‘one-man-one-shilling’ county revenue-sharing approach, emphasizing its potential discriminatory impact on less populous counties.
Gachagua, in a statement on Sunday, asserted his commitment to advocating for the adoption of this formula to ensure what he termed as fairness and equity in distributing national revenue among county administrations. The proposed method hinges on population metrics rather than geographical size.
However, Mungatana criticized this approach, particularly highlighting its potential adverse effects on sparsely populated and marginalized counties like Tana River, Garissa, and Isiolo.
Speaking in an interview with TV47, Mungatana labeled Gachagua’s stance as disappointing, cautioning that such views could hamper his presidential aspirations if he intends to succeed William Ruto.
“I am a staunch proponent of ‘one-man-one-vote-one-square-kilometre’. So, we are fundamentally at odds. If he aspires to be President, disregarding counties like Lamu, Tana River, Garissa, Isiolo, Turkana, Taita Taveta, and Marsabit is a misstep,” Mungatana remarked.
Contrary to Gachagua’s assertions, Mungatana clarified that the Deputy President’s views did not necessarily reflect the stance of their shared political outfit, the UDA Party. He emphasized that such policy pronouncements should be deliberated within the party’s structures before being made public.
Gachagua had earlier emphasized the importance of the formula for the development of the Mount Kenya region, advocating for a system where resources are allocated based on population density, asserting that it corresponds with the principle of proportional contribution to national revenue.
Presently, county governments operate under a revenue allocation system where funds are distributed based on landmass rather than population.
However, Article 202(1) of the Constitution mandates equitable distribution of nationally raised revenue between the national and county governments, with provisions for additional allocations to counties from the national share of revenue, as specified in Section 2.
