Deputy President (DP) Rigathi Gachagua has expressed his support for the county revenue sharing plan that had been put forward by former President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Speaking at a church service in Embu, Gachagua advocated for fairness in distributing revenue to counties, particularly those with larger populations.
“In matters of revenue sharing, I, Rigathi Gachagua, Deputy President of the Republic of Kenya, believe in and advocate for one man, one vote, one shilling. We demand fairness in revenue allocation, not because we come from a densely populated region, but because it’s the right thing to do,” Gachagua affirmed.
He stressed that government resources should be allocated based on population rather than landmass, emphasizing the significant population and tax contributions from residents of the Mt Kenya region.
“The whole issue of resources is about people, the more you are the more taxes you pay. It goes without saying, the more taxes you pay when it comes to sharing share more. We will push for that, and we have no apologies to make,” he said.
“A constituency like Ruiru which has almost 800, 000 people is given the same Constituency Development Fund (CDF) with a constituency which has 14,000 people. It is fairness, let us be fair and resources are about people,” he added.
Additionally, he advocated for semi-arid regions like Mbeere, Kieni in Nyeri, and Ndeiya in Kiambu to be included in the equalization fund in future considerations.
Mt Kenya Deserves Govt Appointments
Furthermore, Gachagua emphasized that government appointments should be extended to Embu County and the Mt Kenya region, given their support for President William Ruto during the elections.
He asked the residents to stop being thankful for the appointments since they are ‘harvesting what they planted’ during the election.
“You plant so that you harvest, you invested in our government, and you must harvest, that is why we have not disappointed,” he said.
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Gachagua Advises Ruto’s Appointees
However, Gachagua urged the appointees to be good ambassadors and confirm that they deserved the president’s appointments.
“I want to appeal to all those that the president has given an opportunity to serve from this county and region to vindicate him that he made the right decision. Go and work like you have never done before so that we can been seen as productive people,” he said.
Review of Revenue Sharing Formula
Speaking during the same event, Embu Governor Cecily Mbarire lamented that counties in the Mt Kenya region are receiving little revenue compared the other counties.
Mbarire argued the current revenue sharing doesn’t consider population which directly affects service delivery.
The UDA Chairperson explained that services like health and water are offered to people and not empty landmass.
“The formula did not take into account the issue of population, it has been given a very small number compared to other issues,” Mbarire said.
“Health services and water are given to people and not landmass, while we agree some countries are very big, we also want you to appreciate that counties like Embu are also heavily populated.”
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Mbarire called for a review of the formula stating that Embu gets half of the revenue received by other counties which are less populated.
“As we review the revenue sharing formula, we governors from Mt Kenya are saying the formula must begin to make sense of the one man, one vote one shilling. There are counties that are getting up to Ksh14 billion yearly while I get maximum Ksh6 billion, half of this goes to the wage bill leaving little for development,” she said.
She maintained that the next formula must consider the huge population in the Mt Kenya region.
She also appealed for Mbeere North and Mbeere South to be included in the equalization fund, citing their classification as Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs).
