Homa Bay Town Member of Parliament (MP) Peter Kaluma has put governors on the spot for underdevelopment in the counties.
Kaluma made the remarks in response to Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Leader Raila Odinga’s statement on the revenue allocation dispute between the Senate and the National Assembly.
Taking to his X platform, Kaluma noted that counties get billions under the equitable share each year but they continue to grapple with underdevelopment.
He stated that NG-CDF gets a smaller share, yet its effect is felt as opposed to the billions allocated to counties each year.
Where do the governors take the money?
“How come NG-CDF which allocates barely Ksh100 million to each constituency towards education, administration and security infrastructure is seen and felt by the people more than the billions going to each county under devolution? Counties get over Ksh.400 billion each year, exclusive of local revenue collections. Where do the governors take the money?” said Kaluma.
These remarks were contrary to the remarks made by ODM leader Raila Odinga who, in a statement, insinuated that the revenue allocation standoff between the Senate and the National Assembly emanates from the National Government Constituency Development (NGCDF) Fund and the National Government Affirmative Action (NGAAF) Funds.
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Devolution has enabled misuse of public funds – Kaluma
Kaluma went head to note that the structure of devolution has been an enabler of misuse of public funds and is an impediment in Kenya’s efforts to become a developed nation.
“Kenya would be a developed nation if every county applied a mere Ksh1 billion towards health, water, agriculture, roads and other devolved functions in each Constituency in the county,” noted Kaluma.
Kaluma called for creation of mechanisms that would ensure county funds get to the grassroot levels.
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“We must create structures to devolve county funds to perform county functions in wards and villages, just as we must also decentralize the 85% of the national revenue which remains with the National Government to implement National government functions in the Constituencies and villages,” noted Kaluma.
Mediation is currently ongoing to address the revenue allocation dispute as are yet to receive their financial allocations for this financial year.
In a statement on Friday, Raila blasted MPs for what he called greed and attempts to influence the share allocated to counties. The ODM leader said MPs are to blame for the standoff between the National Assembly and Senate on revenue sharing.
Senate had revised the Division of Revenue Bill 2024 to demand allocation of Ksh400 billion to the counties instead of the Ksh380 billion initially set by the National Assembly.
Raila slammed MPs for their resolve to retain the NG-CDF and the Affirmative Action Fund which have come under scrutiny in the recent past.
Instead, the opposition Chief urged the MPs to focus on legislative duties and respect devolution.
“They want to have their way with the abrogation of the constitution and getting their pound of flesh with regard to NGCDF, the Senate and the National Assembly are unable to agree on something the law is so clear on about sharing of the revenue between the National Government and the county governments,” stated Raila.
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