Counties the next battlefield for Okoa Kenya plebiscite bid

County Assemblies are now the next battleground for the referendum campaign launched by Cord this week and dubbed Okoa Kenya.

This is after the Okoa Kenya leadership announced they would be moving to the 47 legislative bodies to popularise the initiative.

The government has already criticised the referendum push, terming it a launch-pad for the 2017 polls.

Yesterday, the initiative’s chairman, Mr Paul Mwangi, told Sunday Nation they were not taking chances since the assemblies were pivotal to the plebiscite.
“We plan to visit them as soon as the IEBC (Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission) takes over the process,” he said.

ALTER ELECTORAL LANDSCAPE

The committee of experts will split into groups and visit all the 47 county assemblies in an attempt to win their support for the document that seeks to fundamentally alter the electoral and fiscal landscape of the country.

But before this, he said, they are inviting feedback from members of the public who have read the Bill and would want certain aspects changed.
“We will first listen to any comments or inputs from the public so as to calibrate some parts of the Bill,” he said.

The Bill will be presented to the IEBC, alongside a list of at least one million signatures, as required by law.

Mr Mwangi also said they were doing final verification of signatures before submitting the referendum Bill launched on Thursday to the IEBC.

The referendum, which has a protracted timeline, will be won or lost in the Assemblies.

Already, Cord leader Raila Odinga has warned members of the County Assembly against being compromised to thwart the process.

INTIMIDATED OR BRIBED

“We are telling MCAs that should they be intimidated or bribed to shoot down the Bill, we shall meet in the court of the public opinion,” he declared during the launch.

Some of the issues Cord wants to achieve in the referendum include inclusivity in public appointments, land and electoral reforms, security as well as having 45 per cent of national revenue sent to counties.

The Bill will need to be supported by at least 24 counties to proceed to Parliament for approval before it goes to the President for assent.

Mr Mwangi said the plebiscite was about issues that affect Kenyans, adding that the argument that it was Cord’s way of getting power was misplaced.

Government figures like Meru Senator Kiraitu Murungi have said Okoa Kenya was Cord’s warm-up to the next elections.

The counties are also allowed a maximum period of three months. If their assemblies approve the draft Bill, the respective speakers will deliver it to their counterparts in the two Houses of Parliament — Senate and National Assembly — with certificates that the county assemblies have approved it.

Cord finds solace in Article 257 (10) of Chapter 16 of the Constitution on amendments, which states that if either house of Parliament fails to pass the Bill, the proposed amendment shall be submitted to the people in a referendum.