‘I am a believer of one man, one vote, one shilling’ – DP Gachagua
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua now says he advocates for fairness in the sharing of revenue through one man, one vote, one shilling formulae.
Speaking during a church service at ACK Cathedral of St Peter's Mbeere, Siakago, Embu County, Gachagua said resources are about people, since the more they are, the more taxes they pay to the government.
"Rigathi Gachagua is a proponent of one man, one vote one shilling. Resources are about people. The whole issue of resources is about people. The more you are, the more taxes you pay. The more taxes you pay, when it comes to sharing you get more. We'll push that and we have no apologies to make," he said.
"We want equality and equity. We want fairness in sharing of revenue."
The second in command also says that the Mt Kenya region should get a share of the Equalisation Fund for the benefit of areas that deserve it for development.
“I agree on the need to allocate funds from the Equalization Fund. We have areas in this region like Mbeere, Kieni, Ndeiya that are literally semi-arid and have been forgotten. We must work on this so they receive these funds,” Gachagua said.
Gachagua's sentiments come days after parliamentarians from the Mt Kenya region started rooting for equitable distribution of revenue through the one man, one vote, one shilling allocation.
Led by East Africa Legislative Assembly (EALA) member Maina Karobia and Ruiru MP Simon King’ara, the legislators urged the country’s leadership to consider the proposals saying it will go a long way in ensuring equity.
“Githurai has for instance been hectic to give out bursary forms. The place is heavily populated and with the little, I get as allocation it becomes difficult to share. It is time we pursue equity in the distribution of resources based on the population. My people in their big numbers pay taxes but the return to their efforts is too little,” King’ara said.
While calling for equity, Maina Karobia on his part called on parliamentarians to take up the role of pushing for the amendment of the law to enshrine a fairer revenue-sharing formula in the constitution.
“Parliamentarians have a duty to take this proposal in parliament for legalization and action,” Karobia stated.
Kiambu, Murang’a, Nyeri, Kirinyaga, Nyandarua, Laikipia, Meru, Embu and Tharaka Nithi as some of the heavily populated counties, whose leaders have been complaining that they get inadequate resources.
The one man, one vote, one shilling formulae was introduced by former President Uhuru Kenyatta through the Building Bridges Initiative, which failed.
