• Saturday, 27 July 2024
Transport CS Kipchumba Murkomen takes a swipe at Gachagua over 'one man, one vote, one shilling proposal'

Transport CS Kipchumba Murkomen takes a swipe at Gachagua over 'one man, one vote, one shilling proposal'

 

Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen on Saturday joined a crusade of leaders allied to the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party opposed to the one man, one vote, one shilling proposal.

The policy is backed by UDA deputy leader and the country's deputy President Rigathi Gachagua who argued that populated regions should receive a higher allocation than their least populated counterparts.

Addressing a congregation in Isiolo North yesterday, Murkomen, however, explained that the proposal was divisive to the country's unity.

He further revealed that its propellants lacked in-depth knowledge of its effects in disintegrating the country.

"Claiming that one man, one vote, one kilometer, one what? Let me tell you, most of us talking about the issue do not understand what it is," he stated.

He further noted that if adopted, some regions considered least populated would suffer in infrastructure projects and the Northern and North Eastern regions would be adversely affected.

He explained that during the Building Bridges Initiative period where the one man, one vote, one shilling proponents first emerged, he and a slew of other leaders actively opposed it.

They included Senators Fatuma Dullo and Aaron Cheruiyot as well as Governor Mutula Kilonzo and Johnson Sakaja. UDA Secretary General Cleophas Malala also opposed the proposal.

"I, Senator Fatuma, Governor Mutula, and Governor Sakaja as well as Senator Cheruiyot and Malala joined forces and declared that we want to be known as team Kenya," he added.

"Those who claim that we should allocate more money to one region and leave others are the enemy of the country's unity and I am not afraid of saying that because there was another group moving around with messages of ethnicity."

In his argument, Gachagua revealed that the policy was the only way to ensure an equitable share of resources by the government. He had justified that Mt Kenya was among the most populous regions in the country and held the most votes.

“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 at the time.

“The push for this formula is not just about our region’s high population but because it is the right thing to do. We are committed to ensuring fairness in the sharing of national revenue."

Interior CS Kithure Kindiki and Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru, however, opposed his stance despite coming from the Mt Kenya region.

Kindiki argued that its proponents do not understand while Waiguru revealed that Mt Kenya unity was still intact.

 

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