Why governors said ‘No’ to President’s call on referendum push

Governors spurned the latest overtures by the Jubilee administration asking them to drop their referendum bid because the government has not given them any concrete commitments on the Sh102 billion they are seeking to be given to counties.

Council of Governors (CoG) chairman Isaac Ruto told the Sunday Nation the bulk of the money was being held by the ministry of Health (Sh19 billion), ministry of Water (Sh24 billion) and ministry of Roads (more than Sh30 billion).

“In total we are asking for Sh102 billion for devolved functions and many more in the so-called Jubilee promises that were in our manifesto,” said Mr Ruto, who is also the Bomet Governor.

The CoG is also demanding that the government devolves management of forests, lands and education funds for infrastructure development.

On Wednesday Governor Ruto led his colleagues Peter Munya (Meru) and Ahmed Abdullahi (Wajir) to a State House meeting with President Uhuru Kenyatta, which was thought would result in the governors dropping their bid.

But the Bomet governor said the meeting they had with the President was more talk and less action, something the county governments are not prepared to take.

“They called us to State House and we took ugali and said ‘kwaheri, tuonane kesho’ (goodbye, see you another time). There was nothing to bank on and we were not engaged in a structured manner to find a solution to our issues,” he said.

The governor, who some in his United Republican Party consider a rebel, added: “We agreed to talk but the challenge is that they were on the defensive. We are still willing to call off the referendum on the basis that our issues are resolved, not by words, but deeds.”

The Bomet governor added that the threats by the Jubilee hierarchy to discipline the county chiefs will not solve the matter but will only harden positions.

“We need our issues addressed because the referendum now belongs to the people, not CoG. It is now in the hands of the citizens and we can only call it off if we have actionable answers to take back to the people,” he added.

The vow to push ahead with the referendum quest, defying pleas from President Kenyatta and the Jubilee hierarchy for dialogue, could set the stage for political confrontation with the ruling coalition.

POLITICAL HEADACHE

Earlier, Governor Ruto dared Jubilee to make good its threat and discipline county chiefs supporting the referendum as he vowed to continue with the push until there was more allocation of funds.

“Our position will not change just because some people think that we can be threatened to quit. No amount of boardroom negotiations can thwart this worthy cause,” he said.

The stand remains a political headache to Deputy President William Ruto and his URP wing of Jubilee, a week after President Kenyatta asked those who supported the referendum calls to resign and seek re-election.

Apart from the Bomet governor, those from Rift Valley and URP that are actively involved in the campaign are Mr Simon Kachapin (West Pokot), Mr Cleophas Lagat (Nandi) and Prof Paul Chepkwony (Kericho).

A newly published Ipsos opinion poll shows that 31 per cent of respondents interviewed in Rift Valley support the referendum calls.

At a meeting in Nairobi on Friday, a section of governors promised to continue with the push for the referendum. Governor Ruto said they would begin collecting signatures in the next few days.

At least 23 county bosses have come out to openly push for a plebiscite with Mr Munya and Mr Wycliffe Oparanya (Kakamega) joining Governor Ruto in leading the efforts.

The governors have, however, insisted their Pesa Mashinani campaign is different from Cord’s Okoa Kenya.

Mr Raila Odinga has been leading the Opposition to push the referendum agenda that includes collecting at least one million voters’ signatures to meet the constitutional threshold.

On Saturday, CoG head of communications Barrack Muluka said the counties had no ill-motive in the calls for the referendum.

“The governors have not taken a hard stance on anything. On the contrary it is the Presidency that has taken a hard stance, asking governors to resign and threatening them with dire political consequences. You don’t call that dialogue. You call it intimidation. Some have since been intimidated into silence, although everybody knows where their hearts are,” said Mr Muluka.

He added that the Intergovernmental Relations Act 2012 establishes the Summit, which is the legal forum for consultation between the governors and the Presidency. The President is the chairman of the Summit, or in his absence, the Deputy President.

The issues the governors are raising, Mr Muluka said, came up at a Summit last year and the Presidency promised to address them.

He added that the same issues were again discussed at the Intergovernmental Budget and Economic Council chaired by the deputy president.

“If the Presidency was serious about dialogue it would convene the Summit, which has not sat for a long time now. What is happening is political posturing and fishing for public sympathy through selling of half-truths, embedded in wide official inexactitudes whose goal is to curry favour with the public,” said Mr Muluka.

'NOT A QUESTION OF INTIMIDATION'

But State House spokesman Manoah Esipisu accused the Jubilee governors of misinterpreting the President’s advice that they stick to the coalition manifesto as intimidation.

State House, he said, had not intimidated anybody and did not intend to do so.

“It is not a question of intimidation but the President is asking the governors not to run away from the deliverables they promised the people,” he said.

But in a veiled threat, he said “the door was open” to those Jubilee governors who want to defy what the administration stands for.

He also said the Summit was due to be held. Under the Intergovernmental Relations Act 2012, the Summit is supposed to be held at least twice a year.

“At no point has there been a lapse in the meeting of the Summit,” Mr Esipisu said.

But he added that before the next Summit the President was free to meet with the governors as he did on Wednesday to deliberate on the emerging issues.

“The government is not under any pressure. Not at all. The agenda of this administration is to ensure that it implements its manifesto. In doing so, it is imperative the President meets with several stakeholders and this should not be misinterpreted as bowing to pressure,” he said.

But Governor Lagat of Nandi, who this week came out strongly in favour of the Pesa Mashinani initiative, said their intention was not political.

“I’m not a civil servant to be intimidated by calls to resign. I serve the electorate and all that we are demanding is adequate funds for delivery of quality services,” Mr Lagat said earlier this week, adding that Parliament could not be entirely trusted with devolution.

He questioned the source of funds “young senators are using to fly around the country attacking governors” and the huge amounts they contributed in Harambees.

Nandi County Senator Stephen Sang and six MPs from the county have, however, distanced themselves from the county government stand on the referendum.

Mr Sang dismissed Mr Lagat’s claims that he and Senator Kipchumba Murkomen, Senate Majority Leader Kithure Kindiki and House Majority Leader Aden Duale were being used by Jubilee to undermine governors who are supporting the referendum push.

But Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter broke ranks with his colleagues and supported the referendum quest.

“We need Pesa Mashinani. If the Jubilee leadership is genuinely willing to give more money to county governments without the need for a referendum, then why has no one tabled a Bill in the House to increase the percentage of revenue allocation to counties from 15 to 45 per cent?” he asked.

West Pokot Governor Simon Kachapin said the vote was crucial for protection of devolution adding that the current situation made it susceptible to failure.

“I know some quarters want us to bow out of this race; we are here to stay until our people reap the fruits of having development brought closer to the people,” said Mr Kachapin.