Counties to reap big from natural resource billions

Senator Dr Agnes Zani (right) with senator Elizabeth Ongoro at Stanley Hotel during the press briefing on National Women Steering Committee on May 8, 2014. Nominated Senator Agnes Zani is the sponsor of a proposed law which will a go a long way in providing a solution to emerging disputes between the two levels of government on how benefits from natural resources ought to be shared. FILE PHOTO | ANTHONY OMUYA | NATION MEDIA GROUP  

In Summary

• Billions of shillings from natural resources such as oil, natural gas, minerals, forests will be shared between the two levels of government in the ratio 40:60 if the House adopts the Natural Resources (Benefit Sharing) Bill 2014 and the President assents to it
• Nominated Senator Agnes Zani is the sponsor of the proposed law which will a go a long way in providing a solution to emerging disputes between the two levels of government on how benefits from natural resources ought to be shared
• Turkana legislators have been pushing for a law that would ensure local benefit from oil when selling finally begins

By JEREMIAH KIPLANG'AT
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The national government will be forced to hand over huge chucks of revenue collected from natural resources to county governments if a new Bill before Senate becomes law.

The Bill before the Senate will see counties allocated a whopping 40 per cent of all revenues collected from the resources within their jurisdictions.

Billions of shillings from natural resources such as oil, natural gas, minerals, forests, water, wildlife, fisheries, titanium, gold and other viable minerals will be shared between the two levels of government in the ratio 40:60 if the House adopts the Natural Resources (Benefit Sharing) Bill 2014 and the President assents to it.

From the 60 per cent the national government will get, 20 per cent will be channelled to a Sovereign Wealth Fund meant to shield the economy from cyclical changes in commodity prices, build savings for future generations and support investment in infrastructure.

Money collected from forests such as Mau and Aberdare, among others will also be shared between the two levels of government as per the ratio.

“The revenue collected shall, subject to subsection (3), be shared between the national government and the county governments in the ratio of sixty percent to the national government and forty per cent to the county government,” says clause 26 (1) of the Bill awaiting Second Reading in the House.

COMMUNITY PROJECTS
Forty per cent of the revenue given a county government shall be used on community projects around areas where the resource are found and the remaining amount used on other projects within the county, sub-section 3 of the Bill says.

Several counties are in line to benefit from the proposed law. Turkana will be the biggest beneficiary of oil revenues considering that most of the commercially viable oil fields are found in the county.  

Kwale will also get a big bite of the sale of titanium currently being mined in the county.

Nominated Senator Agnes Zani is the sponsor of the proposed law which will a go a long way in providing a solution to emerging disputes between the two levels of government on how benefits from natural resources ought to be shared.

Ms Zani has been on the front line in the fight to have resources shared between host counties and the national government. The motion was well received and subsequently passed when she moved it in the House last year. However, many challenged her to develop into a law so it could be more actionable.

SHARING AGREEMENTS
The House picked her to chair the Select Committee on Legislation on Royalties Accruing from Natural Resources in the counties. There has been a conflict between the two level of government as counties demand a sizeable share of revenue from resources within their localities.

Turkana legislators have been pushing for a law that would ensure local benefit from oil when selling finally begins.

“The principal purpose of this Bill is to provide a legislative framework for the establishment and enforcement of a system of benefit sharing in resource exploitation between resource exploiters, the national government, county governments and local communities and to establish the Natural Resources Benefits Sharing Authority,” says the Bill in its Memorandum of Objects and Reasons.

The benefits sharing authority will have many functions including preparing benefit sharing agreements among local communities and overseeing funds set aside for local projects identified to benefit from the revenue. It will also decide the amount of money each county gets from its natural resources.