Corruption in county governments killing devolution, Raila tells conference

Opposition leader Raila Odinga being welcomed to the devolution conference by governors Waiguru and Nanok.

Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has termed corruption as the biggest threat to devolution.

He told governors during their fifth devolution conference in Kakamega that conflicts of interests were harming service delivery as county officials enrichened themselves.

He said count speakers, majority leaders, MCAs and county executives had positioned themselves with the sole purpose of making money from public works projects, becoming both contractors and overseers.

The rot was so serious that, he added, governors were bribing MCAs to approve their cabinet appointees. He described the bench-marking trips so beloved by MCAs as bribes by governors.

Appreciating the possibility of innocent county officials being perceived as corrupt, Raila said the only way out was through an audit of their lifestyles.

He said fighting corruption was not a partisan affairs which why his MoU with President Uhuru Kenyatta, signed on March 9, recognised it as an “existential threat.”

He called upon the national and county governments to explore ways of avoiding conflict and duplication when implementing the Big Four Agenda (affordable housing, health care, manufacturing and food security) because some of the pillars fell under devolution.

He also proposed a three-tier government featuring the counties, regional and the national government with a clear revenue-sharing formula in order to have viable economic units as was envisioned in the Bomas Draft of the constitution.