Crisis looms as CORD, Jubilee camps differ on referendum

Former Premier Raila Odinga after a closed-door meeting with ODM National Executive Council at Orange House Tuesday. [PHOTOs: MOSES OMUSULA AND JENIPHER WACHIE/STANDARD]

By FELIX OLICK and MOSES NJAGIH

KENYA: A showdown is imminent after the Jubilee government denounced the crusade for a constitutional amendment as CORD vowed to press on with the referendum campaign.

A meeting of the top organ of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) chaired by party leader Raila Odinga Tuesday resolved to support CORD’s clamour for a constitutional vote to scale up the allocation to counties.

ODM is a member of the Coalition for Reform and Democracy (CORD) alongside the Wiper Democratic Movement of former Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka and Bungoma Senator Moses Wetangula’s New Ford Kenya.

“The NEC (National Executive Council) resolves to support a national referendum to establish the percentage of the national budget allocated to counties at no less than 40 per cent,” read the resolution by ODM.

It added that the referendum would strengthen the role of the Senate to effectively represent counties.

But after a meeting chaired by Deputy President William Ruto Tuesday, senators allied to Jubilee backed down on their push for a constitutional amendment and resolved to use alternative means to address other Senate grievances.

Jubilee said the 40 per cent quota to counties advocated by proponents of the referendum is part of the ruling coalition’s manifesto.

And to demonstrate the Government’s commitment to devolution, they say, this financial year 35 per cent had been channelled to counties, much more than the constitutional requirement for “not less than 15 per cent of all revenue collected by the national government.”

Manifesto

“They (CORD) should not pretend at this point to want to push for a referendum to implement what is in the Jubilee manifesto,” said Senate Majority Leader Kindiki Kithure after the meeting.

Ruto pledged the Government would within “a year or two” progressively increase the allocation to counties to 40 per cent.

But Raila maintained that the Jubilee administration, led by President Uhuru Kenyatta, was misleading Kenyans that they had devolved 34 per cent of the national budget.

“From simple arithmetic, Sh190 billion cannot be 34 per cent of Sh1.6 trillion which is this year’s budget,” he said. The Constitution, however, refers to a fraction of the revenue collection, not the entire budget.

But ODM backed down on their clamour for a parliamentary system of government, saying they do not want to “confuse Kenyans”.

“We don’t want to confuse people. We are concentrating on the issue of devolution because if devolution works, a lot of other issues work,” said Raila, the co-principal of CORD.

Raila’s call for a review of how presidential elections are conducted to redress the “tyranny of numbers” apparently torpedoed the bipartisan push for a referendum championed by senators and governors from across the political divide.

“So far resources budgeted for the county governments fall far short of the needs of counties to implement their projects and programmes for development to meet the needs of the people,” said ODM Secretary General Anyang’ Nyong’o.

Nyong’o dismissed those criticising the referendum calls saying that even the United States constitution was amended more than 10 times within the first five years.

ODM also lashed out at the Jubilee government for what they alleged is misinterpretation of the Constitution by renaming the Provincial Admiration instead of restructuring.

“The Constitution says that the Provincial Administration will be restructured not renamed. But today, instead of PCs we have regional commissioners. Instead of DCs, we have county commissioners,” said Raila.

Raila said the new system was usurping the powers of governors and was a recipe for chaos at the devolved units. The leaders also criticised the Government for what they termed tribalising the public service through skewed dismissal of certain chief executive officers in parastatals.

“We condemn the tribalisation of the public service by the Jubilee Government through the summary dismissal of chief executives of parastatals and replacing them with individuals whose only qualification is their ethnic background and loyalty to Jubilee leadership,” Nyong’o noted

“ODM calls for inclusiveness in public appointments while observing proper procedures as laid down in the constitution and the law,” he added.

The new allegations by the ODM top brass are likely to be the new battlefront between coalitions’ lawmakers when Parliament reopens on September 17.

ODM legislators have claimed that recent changes at key State corporations were engineered to pave way for Kenyatta’s The National Alliance and his deputy William Ruto’s United Republican Party to take top jobs under their 50:50 pre-election power sharing agreement.

Already, the parliamentary Public Investments Committee has given an indication that they would seek to investigate the sacking and replacement in state corporations.