Manyatta Member of Parliament Gitonga Mukunji has announced that he is preparing to table a Bill in parliament to have the One man One shilling budget policy introduced.
Speaking while disbursing Ksh.36 million bursary cheques to 7,793 Secondary Schools students at Kairuri grounds in Manyatta on Thursday, MP Mukunji stated that there needs to be a fair system of County Development Fund (CDF) allocation in constituencies.
The legislator said it was unfair for constituencies with a high population to receive the same CDF allocation as others with less population.
“I am preparing a Bill which will call for what I call the one man one shilling,” he said.
“I do not understand why Manyatta constituency which has 170 schools and about 15,000 students is being given the same revenue as a county with only 50,000 people.”
MP Mukunji emphasized the need to have CDF monies being allocated proportionally based on the population of each county, claiming that other areas with few residents end up having excess funds yet others are being starved of cash.
“A fellow MP told me that he has paid school fees for students in his constituency from Form 1 to Form 4. He told me he only has 1,000 students in all the schools there,” he said.
“I am being given Ksh.151 million and there is another MP with only 3 Wards in his constituency who is being given the same amount of money. That is unfair.”
He further called on President William Ruto to intervene on the matter, claiming that other MPs are even having the advantage of sponsoring students abroad with Bursary Funds.
“Mr. President kindly listen to our plea, we must be fair in sharing government funds.”
The proposal to have the system implemented has hit a dead end severally in the Senate.
County governments currently use a revenue allocation system where money is disbursed based on a county’s landmass than population.
Article 202 (1) of the Constitution states that revenue raised nationally shall be shared equitably among the national and county governments.
Section 2 clarifies that “county governments may be given additional allocations from the national government’s share of the revenue, either conditionally or unconditionally.”
