Francis Muli
Economist David Ndii says that secession is an option to the losing counties in the revenue allocation debate, if the formula proposed by the Commission for Revenue Allocation (CRA) is passed by Senate.
“If Kenyatta and his Kikuyu supremacist cabal feel it is intolerable, there is always the alternative of a full federal system. Mombasa and Lamu get to keep their ports. Turkana gets to develop its oil resources. Marsabit gets to charge for its wind resources. The Tsavo National Park reverts to Taita-Taveta county. Without a commitment to equitable development, there is no social contract, which is to say, sooner or later, there there will be no Kenya. Divorce is also an option,” says Ndii.
He has blamed the current standstill in the passing of revenue allocation bill on the disregard of the Constitution by the government.
In a statement, Ndii says that the formula proposed by the Commission for Revenue Allocation (CRA), that will see some counties lose while others gain is unconstitutional.
“”Equitable society” and “equitable development” are defined by outcomes such as income per person, life expectancy, school enrollment and education outcomes, access to healthcare etc. Put differently, this part of the “social contract” that we entered into in August 2010 obliges the State to redress the legacy of inequitable development, marginalization and exclusion, and to pursue development convergence across the country. While development disparities may persist for different, no community or part of Kenya is entitled to more development than the other using public money,” adds Ndii.
Read: David Ndii Ranked Number 22 In The Top 100 Economists In The World
According to Ndii, any distribution ‘formula’ of public resources which portends reinforcing these disparities, or creating new ones, is unconstitutional.
He argues that the word formula was left out on purpose while writing the 2010 constitution, to avoid putting the country in a straight jacket that it is forced to live with until the next revision is due.
“Oh the matter of revenue sharing, the CoK2010 uses the language of “basis” as opposed to “formula.” There is in fact no reference to “formula” anywhere in the articles on revenue sharing. This is on purpose. The reason is as follows. There are two basic models of fiscal equalization, namely formula and institution model. Systems that use formulae do not have standing institutions such as Commision for Revenue Allocation (CRA). The formulae are developed by ad hoc technical teams and passed into law until it is due for revision, then another ad hoc team is constituted to do so,” he added.
Ndii accuses President Uhuru Kenyatta of undermining the the 2010 Constitution, a behaviour he says has spilled over to the current debate on revenue allocation.
“He has led the impunity of disobeying court orders. He has bankrupted the country through reckless borrowing in the quest to overshadow the county governments in development spending, including the medical equipment scheme mega-corruption racket that we now know was executed and controlled from State House. Pronouncements by both Kenyatta and Odinga camps on this conflict have revealed that eave no doubt that the BBI is a Trojan horse for this nefarious agenda. It is this Kikuyu supremacist ideology and hegemonic agenda that brought Kenya to the brink in 2007/8,” he adds.
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