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CS Kuria makes U-turn on One man, One shilling push

The Cabinet Secretary now says the push will balkanise the country along ethnic lines.

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by JAMES MBAKA

News04 June 2024 - 08:08
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In Summary


  • Moses Kuria has previously, including when he was MP, advanced the push for more resources based on population.
  • Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has backed the One man, One shilling push.
Public Service CS Moses Kuria.

Public Service Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria has made a U-turn on the push for One man, One shilling.

The former MP has rubbished Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua's calls to have national resources shared based on population.

Gachagua last Monday told a congregation that the One Man One shilling policy was the only way to ensure an equitable share of resources by the government.

However, speaking during the launch of county dissemination forums in Kiambu on Monday, Kuria insisted that the proposal was unhealthy for the country. 

Kuria said that if the debate is allowed, it has the potential to balkanise the country along ethnic lines.

"This is why I will not lie to the people of Mt Kenya region about one man one vote one shilling. Our region has produced the sitting Deputy President, 9 Cabinet members (including the Attorney General), National Treasury, Secretary to the Cabinet, Majority Leader, Chair Budget and Chair Finance In the National Assembly, Deputy Speaker, and Deputy Majority Leader in the Senate," Kuria stated.

Two weeks ago, Kuria had chided some leaders saying they were dishonest in pushing for the policy yet they are well represented in government.

He revealed that more than nine leaders had been appointed to the Cabinet and leadership positions in Parliament and were better placed to spearhead the rollout of the policy.

"What other powers would we be looking for? We are a government and we can implement One Man, One Vote, One Shilling by Friday if we are serious. Let us be honest with our people," Kuria said.

"We need Kenya. The most significant inclination for people, especially from this region, is to invest in Kenya. I am saying this as someone who travels across the country and finds people from this county all over the country. They ask me when they hear some people talking about, I don't know, seclusion or isolation, they ask me, are you thinking clearly?"

Kuria observed that it would be questionable for him, a senior government official, to be among those complaining at the meeting.

"It is a legitimate question and I think the bulk of the people who'll be at Limuru III will be justified to talk about one man, one vote, one shilling. What I cannot understand is people like me crying with them, yet I am a cabinet minister," Kuria said.

The CS has previously supported calls for allocation of resources based on population including openly rooting for the One man, One shilling.

In November 2019, Kuria had advocated for the one-vote, one-shilling formulae and reiterated that it was one of the conditions for him to support the then Building Bridges Initiative.

"We will strongly support the BBI report if it assures us of one man, one vote, one shilling and we will strongly support the BBI report if it reduces the burden of representation and the burden of big government," Kuria stated at the time.

In July 2020, Kuria insisted that the national cake should be divided according to the number of people living in respective regions and not the landmass of an area.

The outspoken lawmaker insisted that the antagonism exhibited by members from the Orange Democratic Party to have the new formula enacted indicates the handshake troubles.

Gachagua had justified more resources for Mt Kenya, arguing that it is among the most populous regions in the country and held the most votes.

For instance, he argued that the Ruiru area alone has 800,000 people and it was unfair to allocate the same resources as other least populated areas.

“In matters of revenue sharing, I firmly believe in one-man-one-vote-one-shilling. It’s a straightforward concept: the more people there are in an area, and the more taxes they contribute, the more funding they deserve to receive,” Gachagua 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.

Under the current revenue sharing formula, population covers 45 per cent, basic equal share (25 per cent), poverty (20 per cent), land area (8 per cent) and fiscal responsibility (2 per cent) which Mt Kenya politicians insist leaves the heavily-populated counties with little cash for development.

In 2023, Kuria called for the splitting of the National Government Constituency Development kitty to create a separate bursary fund to be shared in the proportion of the constituency student population.

He also proposed the increase of the allocation of the NGCDF from 2.5 per cent to 5 per cent as a route to ensure more resources are allocated.

"We have noted bursaries to be more problematic in the Mt Kenya region. This is the alternative route of first mitigating the problem we have as we fix the economy to raise more cash for development projects," he said.

“Go to parliament because that is where laws are made, why wait for tomorrow, begin the process today."

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