Governors, Okoa Kenya eager to merge their referendum initiatives

Governors have hinted that their Pesa Mashinani referendum push might soon merge with the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy’s (CORD’s) Okoa Kenya initiative.

Chairman of the Council of Governors Isaac Ruto, in an interview with The Standard, said the two initiatives will forge a common front, if majority of the governors approve the move. Ruto, who is also the Governor of Bomet, however added that Okoa Kenya will have to adopt all proposals by the county chiefs for the merger to take place.

“We are still reading their proposals. They have some proposals that are similar to ours while some are different. We also have some proposals that are different from theirs. We will meet and explore ways of how we can work together on where we agree,” said.

Ruto said governors would meet soon to deliberate on the possibility of a merger.

He insisted that allocations to counties should be anchored in the Constitution to avoid cases of devolved units begging for more funds in future.

The Government has in the past come up with a raft of measures aimed at scuttling both Pesa Mashinani and Okoa Kenya initiatives separately, and a merger will not only give impetus to the referendum push, but will also provide a new challenge for the Government.

Earlier this year, there was an agreement between the national government and county bosses that resulted in increment of allocations to the counties, a move that was widely seen as meant to placate the governors.

Political analysts yesterday said that a merger would depoliticise the initiative and was likely to rattle the Government. Adams Oloo, Head of Political Science at University of Nairobi, said a merger would ensure that the campaign would not take CORD or Jubilee coalition lines but would be people-based.

“The two will be meeting on the same page on an issue that is at the heart of Kenyans and which cuts across the political divide, I do not think that there is a Kenyan who will say we do not want money to go to the counties where development is being felt,” said Dr Oloo.

Busia Governor Sospeter Ojaamong said the move to bring together the two initiatives will save the country the cost of running two referendums.

Similar issues

Ojaamong said governors were going for nothing short of the 45 per cent of the total revenue collected by the national government every financial year.

“We are demanding for 45 per cent of national revenue allocation to come to the people at the grassroots,” he said.

Okoa Kenya Committee of Experts (CoE) Chairman Paul Mwangi said they were waiting to hear from the governors on how they could work together given that their issues were largely similar.

“We have a lot of common ground in our proposals and if the agreed areas will result in a merger, then we welcome it,” said Mwangi.

But National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale dismissed as inconsequential a merger between Okoa Kenya and Pesa Mashinani to push for a referendum, saying this would not distract the Jubilee government from delivering on their mandate.

“We wish them well in their endevour, but I know that they are just trying to seek relevance...and will not get far with their plebiscite push,” said Duale.