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Post by kamalet on May 30, 2007 8:53:27 GMT 3
Adongo,
The 16% VAT is part of the revenue that the government shares to all areas in the form of CDF.
Now supposing we were to take your example and say 5% was to be levied at constituency level whilst 11% was levied by the central government. Can you imagine poor Nyando where majority live on less than $0.5 a day trying to survive on the 5% tax fund to develop their infrastructure? This would perhaps create a very unequal Kenya since constituencies such as Kabete or Westlands would be taking home a lot more with their high purchasing power.
You will certainly come with the state neglected some areas yada yada.....but what you notice is that the people of some areas in Kenya have constantly been fed that story about their historical perspective to ensure that they do not ask what the future holds for them.
You rightly claim that the soild of Nyando area are fertile, but yet we hear of no agricultural output from that area, where the cries of floods are probably louder! It only rains once a year. The floods at the end of last year were simply as a result of some government functionary not paying a 4 million shilling bill to the NYS for repair works to d**es in peparation for the rains! Nyando is not poor because of the overflowing river Nyando...you seriously need to find out why!
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Post by adongo12345 on May 30, 2007 17:45:00 GMT 3
Adongo, The 16% VAT is part of the revenue that the government shares to all areas in the form of CDF. Now supposing we were to take your example and say 5% was to be levied at constituency level whilst 11% was levied by the central government. Can you imagine poor Nyando where majority live on less than $0.5 a day trying to survive on the 5% tax fund to develop their infrastructure? This would perhaps create a very unequal Kenya since constituencies such as Kabete or Westlands would be taking home a lot more with their high purchasing power. You will certainly come with the state neglected some areas yada yada.....but what you notice is that the people of some areas in Kenya have constantly been fed that story about their historical perspective to ensure that they do not ask what the future holds for them. You rightly claim that the soild of Nyando area are fertile, but yet we hear of no agricultural output from that area, where the cries of floods are probably louder! It only rains once a year. The floods at the end of last year were simply as a result of some government functionary not paying a 4 million shilling bill to the NYS for repair works to d**es in peparation for the rains! Nyando is not poor because of the overflowing river Nyando...you seriously need to find out why! KamaleForget the village economics. In the real world where some of us live taxes are not levied or utilized village by village, or even hut by hut. What I am talking about here really is what we will have to do with devolution. Let's take the 16% VAT to begin with. One proposal would be to split VAT revenue into two equal parts. 8% will be retained by the central government and the other 8% will go to the regions, not the constituencies or villages, that is unworkable. In the Bomas Draft the proposal is to have sixteen regions. In the Wako madness they trashed the regions and came up with something called counties. That is one of the reasons Kenyans killed the Wako Draft. Personally I would prefer if we retained the eight provinces in a fully devolved power structure as regions, but I can live with 16 regions. In this proposal the 16 regions will get 8% of the total VAT collected. Then comes the big question. How do we divide it. There are many ways to go about it depending on the concrete conditions in the country. It could be divided equally. It could be divided on the basis of what each region contributed to the VAT. Notice one thing we are NOT talking about each constituency collecting its taxes. In Canada the system is very complex. The regions in this case the provinces decide how much Sales Tax they want to charge. In Ontario, where I live it is 8%. In Alberta, one of the richest provinces in Canada they have no provincial sales tax, because they have enough money. Also in Canada each province gets what its citizens pays into their sales tax. But there is a big catch. Canada has what they call equalization fund allocation which is done through the federal money transfers. This means the richer provinces get less money in what the federal government gives out and the poorer provinces get more in proportional terms, which means you have to factor in the population numbers etc. What I am saying here is that apart from the sales tax revenue the federal government has a whole slate of other funding programs for the provinces. In a profound way the federal government of Canada basically collects money and distributes a big chunk of it to the provinces. Under the Canada Health Act for example, the federal government allocates huge somes of money sent to each province to finance health services. That money cannot be used by the provinces to finance anything else apart from health services. In Kenya that is what we are going to do. The central government cannot stick the constituencies up with a meagre 2.5% CDF, I 'll come to that shortly. What we will need is a proper funding formula to transfer a good part of all revenue collected (not just VAT) by the central government to the regions. Our nightmare is going to be building checks and balances to ensure that the regions do not become just another layer of corruption. It can be done. One of the big questions for Kenya is going to be infrastructure. Who should fund it? Should it be the central government? Should it be the regions? I think it should be both. CDF has no capacity to fund infrastructure even if it is increased to 10% as Raila has proposed. May be CDF at 10% can do small scale road works and maintenance. But the central government should keep the funding for major highways, rail works etc. They should also distribute equitably. It is insane that people have to suck up to Kibaki to get road works in their constituencies. The regions should have the funding for regional infrastructure development. And then we are going to need catch up money. We cannot give the same amount of money to Nairobi and NEP to build infrastructure. One is starting from scratch, the other is fairly okay. The bottom line Kamale is that Kenya is heading to fundamental changes in the way the country utilizes its resources. What we have now has failed the country for 45 years. It has to go. Adongo
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Post by job on May 30, 2007 20:29:47 GMT 3
KAMALE,
You say,...quoting you "...You ... claim that the soil of Nyando area are fertile, but yet we hear of no agricultural output from that area, where the cries of floods are probably louder! "......
If you did not know, or have not heard, Nyando is one of Kenya's leading producers of Rice. I come form the neighbouring constituency of Nyakach. Have you ever heard of the Ahero Rice Irrigation Scheme & other pilot projects,.......and surrounding outgrower rice farming? They're located in this same constituency. The constituency also produces sugarcane among other crops. Fishing is also quite big in Nyando.
Perennial floods which the government has for the last 45 years failed to control, is a big draw-back......they only serve to hamper & devastate the sustainability of a robust local agriculture-based economy.
This can certainly end with the building of viable d**es, dams or diversion channels.
Like the neglect of the predominantly black city of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in the US,.....the flood menace caused by River Nyando perennially bursting its banks,....is merely a result of NEGLECT DUE TO LACK IN POLITICAL WILL TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEM,.......an issue directly dependent on the Presidential political patronage system of our current constitution.
SINCE IT IS THE PRESIDENT WHO DECIDES MAJOR PROJECT ALLOCATIONS,...Nyando people have not been lucky for the last 45 years in this regard, to have this flood problem made a priority item.
I can confidently state to you that the poverty factors in Nyando are not necesarily & solely a result of low volumes of economic production, but also a result of excessive costs (household expenditures) for survival, associated with this perennial flooding problem. BIG on the list is flood-associated healthcare spending especially on children.
STAGNANT & still waters from the floods means increased incidences of Malaria, Typhoid, Dysentery, & other gastrointestinal afflictions etc...the direct impact = Nyando's high infant morbidity & mortality rates & even adult mordidity & mortality rates.
Parents are always rushing kids to medicine-lacking & staff-depleted clinics, health centers and hospitals in Boya, Ahero, Awasi, Kisumu etc etc spending enormously in healthcare & transportation. This drains limited resources leading to poverty.
Lost time from the diseases & care-giving, plus floods destroying crops, destroying homes which have to be re-built yearly,..all worsen the situation.
Hence Nyando people know well that addressing the flood problem will mean significant change on their lifestyle.
Nyando appreciate the possible profound impact that say, enacting the Bomas katiba, can have on their lives. To them, It could mean for once, addressing of this flood problem from an equity-based & constitution-facilitated standpoint,........to enable people continue with productive and sustainable economic activities.
Devolution can also mean having local participation (input) of Nyando people (like all other jurisdictions in Kenya) in governance, ...a position that will place Nyando people at the vantage point of deciding to prioritize flood control measures.
Nyando people certainly know that the sytem/constitution is wrong to invest all the infrastructure allocation powers in one person,..the President,..just as they know that the failure to control the floods is also wrong.
How nice can it be for the people of Nyando (WHO ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND THIS PROBLEM QUITE WELL), if they can have a representative who aspires to both address the bigger flaw in the current constitution/Katiba at the same time addressing the flood problem.
Their excitement in having a parliamentary candidate who's both a battle-hardened fighter for reforms in the Katiba and a champion for addressing the flood problem is only a blessing to them. Respect their desires and democratic choice since they know, feel and live their local issues better than you do. Do you really have their interest at heart? Leave Miguna and Nyando people alone. Do not doubt or question their intelligence in that regard, they are on the right track!
Concentrate on Dagorettin problems, ......there's a lot to do in Riruta and Kawangware, starting with providing security and freeing residents from Mungiki extortions, bwana Afande!
Job
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Post by politicalmaniac on May 30, 2007 23:44:12 GMT 3
I dont know much about Nyando
But any blame in Nyanza for the so called 'lack of development' is due to political chicannery by the jomo, moi and now this inept sleeper in chiefs GOVTs.
One doesnt need to find out "why certain NYS bills aren't being honored and paid", the answers are obvious. If a project is headed to Nyanza my poor neighbours will get screwed by the likes of the former Min Of Fin who deliberately mis-allocated funds with large chunks of it to his backyard brethren to build roads for example. And Roads R wanted funded elsewhere where were stalled or funded grudgingly.
Thats why devolution is a hot commodity. We want to free ourselves from the yokes of regional authoritarianism propagated by this Govt.
Ah can't wait for this ODM nomination brouhaha to ebb and be finalized so that a full frontal assault of the sloth can begin.
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