The Council of Governors (CoG) has asked Senators to reject the fourth revenue formula which was proposed by the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA), terming it discriminatory.

The CoG, through its Finance and Economic Planning Committee Chairperson and Kakamega Governor Fernandes Barasa, said that the sharing formula will see most counties losing millions, including Kakamega County at Sh393 million, if approved.

“The fourth formula for revenue sharing for 2025-2032 is discriminatory and skewed only towards 16 counties benefiting while 31 others will lose millions,” Barasa said.

Barasa was speaking when he oversaw the distribution of fertiliser and maize seeds to widows, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups in his Ikolomani constituency.

In the new formula promised by CRA, counties with a high population will receive more, which will see Kitui, Kakamega, and Narok suffer huge cuts in revenue allocation.

“This new formula is demeaning; we cannot use poverty and distance from Nairobi as a parameter for revenue sharing. We have economic stimulus programs which help in improving the status of the less privileged,” he said.

He warned that the formula could derail the progress made under devolution by limiting resources that are critical for county-level development.

“This new formula will have devastating effects on counties like Kakamega, as it will drastically reduce our funding. It is unfair, and we cannot allow this,” Barasa said.

In the third basis formula passed in 2020, the population index was pegged at 18 percent and has now been proposed to increase to 42 percent.

The new proposed revenue formula in the fourth basis has dropped other parameters, including health, agriculture, roads and urban parameters.

“According to CRA, Kakamega will lose a whopping Sh310 million, Kitui will lose Sh343 million, and Kisii and Homa Bay counties will each lose Sh285 million and Sh262 million, respectively,” he added.

If the Senate approves the formula, sixteen counties will reap big, with Garissa set to receive Sh1.9 billion more, and Marsabit County gets Sh1.3 billion more.

Further, Isiolo and Wajir will get an additional Sh945 million and Sh607 million more, Kajiado will gain Sh801 million, while Kericho, Samburu, and Vihiga will get more than Sh300 million each.