Aden Duale backs Bill to increase county cash
Maara MP Kareke Mbiuki (left) welcomes Tharaka Nithi Governor Samuel Ragwa during a fund-raiser at Mugona Girls Secondary school on September 27, 2014. Senate Majority Leader Kithure Kindiki (second left) asked Jubilee governors supporting calls for a referendum to quit. PHOTO | CHARLES WANYORO |
What you need to know:
- Mr Duale said the National Assembly would receive and debate the Bill for more money for counties once it was submitted by the Council of Governors.
- Earlier in the day, Mr Ruto said the governors had agreed on a Bill that would include all the 10 issues they have raised in their campaign.
The government on Monday declared its readiness to enact a Bill to increase funding for counties, opening the door for an end to the push for a referendum by governors.
National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale spoke as Okoa Kenya team pushing for a separate Opposition referendum said they were awaiting signatures to hit the one million mark before submitting them for verification by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
Thereafter, their campaign would enter the second stage, said the team.
Mr Duale said the National Assembly would receive and debate the Bill for more money for counties once it was submitted by the Council of Governors chaired by the Bomet Governor, Mr Isaac Ruto.
“If the Council of Governors brings us (the government) a Bill, I want to assure them that I will take it to the National Assembly and later to the Senate for debate and approval and thereafter, to the President for assent. Now they are talking. Why waste Sh8 billion on a referendum when there are other ways of dealing with the issue?” he asked in an interview with the Nation.
The position was reinforced by his colleague at the Senate, Prof Kithure Kindiki, who said governors should have engaged them before embarking on the push for the referendum.
“It is within the rights of governors to make suggestions on financing counties. If it comes, we will look at it and take it from there. We expect county assemblies, executive committee members and governors to engage us on devolution issues and not to draft in other people,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Mr Ruto said the governors had agreed on a Bill that would include all the 10 issues they have raised in their campaign for signatures for a popular approach which they would to submit to Parliament for debate.
He insisted that the Bill had to be authored by governors and warned that their readiness to drop the clamour for the referendum would be shelved if the government crafted its own proposed law on county funding.
SAFEGUARD DEVOLUTION
“We have developed a Bill and we will represent it to the National Assembly. There are certain issues in the Constitution which require a referendum, but the issues that are core to our determination to safeguard devolution do not require that we go to a referendum.
“We only need a popular move through a vote and that is why we are collecting signatures,” he said by telephone.
He warned the government against drafting a Bill on their behalf, stating that they would revert to their push for the referendum.
“If the Bill is not ours, they will have to wait because we don’t want them (the government) to hoodwink Kenyans. We have a Bill that has all the 10 issues we have raised because it is not only about money,” he said.
However, Mr Duale said the government had not drafted any Bill regarding funds for counties.
He also said the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) had been asked to speed up the approval of audited accounts for the Financial Years 2010/11, 2011/12, and 2012/13 so that counties could get their fair share of finances as provided for by the Constitution.
“We are dealing with all audited accounts so that Parliament is not blamed,” he said.
