Stop unhealthy war with governors, Raila Odinga tells Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto

Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga is shown a Mombasa County Inspectorate car's features during the 3rd Annual Devolution Conference at Meru National Polytechnic. (PHOTO: BONIFACE OKENDO/STANDARD)

MERU: The failure by President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy to attend the devolution conference undermines the spirit of devolution and will ultimately compromise service delivery, CORD leader Raila Odinga has said.

Raila said the defiant stand portrayed by the government, which also saw most Cabinet Secretaries invited skip the event, only serves to fuel tension between the two levels of government.

“I am unapologetic in believing in devolution and I am proud of it. Devolution is here to stay and this baby must be nurtured despite its deformities,” said Raila in reference to claims of misuse of funds and skewed recruitment processes.

President Kenyatta sent Devolution CS Mwangi Kiunjuri to represent him, while Water CS Eugene Wamalwa represented the Deputy President William Ruto.

Governors expressed their outrage over the matter, especially because the event was graced by foreign dignitaries, including Namibian Prime Minister Saara Kuugogelwa, who represented her President on the invitation of the Kenya government.

Council of Governors Chairman Peter Munya (Meru) said President Kenyatta’s failure to attend the event was excusable, as he had sent a representative. Other governors however disagreed.

Kivutha Kibwana (Makueni) and Isaac Ruto (Bomet) questioned what could have been more important for the President than the conference.

The former Prime Minister, who was speaking at the conference in Meru, then turned on the Senators, whom he accused of using their constitutional role as protectors of counties to advance their narrow interests.

Raila said the devolution process has been strongly opposed since 2010 and took issue with the continued withholding of devolved functions and inadequate funding to counties by the national government.

“Devolution has many enemies. This is evident in the rocky relationship between the two levels of government and other agencies. It is frustrating service delivery and pitting governors against the public,” he said.

He went on: “I appeal to the national government to end this unhealthy war. Let President Kenyatta give governors their rightful roles. He should accept that they are the chief executive officers of counties.”

Raila challenged the President to consult and not confront governors.

“The government should not see governors as enemies,” he cautioned in reference to the public condemnation of governors by the Executive.

He said that in 1964, then opposition leader Ronald Ngala sponsored a censure motion against the then former Prime Minister Jomo Kenyatta’s government for refusing to transfer funds to the regional governments.

He faulted the government for continuing to handle county functions and resources.

“Some functions in the agriculture and health sectors have been fully devolved, but the parastatals are still under the ministries and they report to the ministers,” he said.

“This breaches the Constitution. The assigned functions to counties are supposed to be restructured to conform with the devolved structure of governance. What we are seeing is government denying counties funds,” he said.

Raila criticised senators for snubbing the event and asked them to give governors space and time to serve their terms.

“There is a problem between senators and governors. Many people did not know where power lay, that is why they opted for the Senate. Three quarters of senators have now declared interest to dislodge their governors in order to enjoy power,” he noted.

“It is now that they have realised that governors have more powers. This is why instead of fighting for more resources for counties, they are now badmouthing and fighting governors.”

He asked the senators to work with the governors to support devolution.

“I appeal to senators and members of the county assemblies (MCAs) to end their competition for the sake of devolution. The Senate should stand true to its role. I urge the senators to extend a hand of friendship to governors for the sake of unity of purpose and remain as one until their term ends next year,” he implored.