Governors unveil 15-man team in referendum push

Governors Friday named a team to spearhead their push for constitutional changes that they say will strengthen devolution.

The team, comprising 15 governors and six experts, will lead the push for the “Pesa Mashinani” (money to the grassroots) referendum.

The county chief executives also want to change the law on their impeachment and strengthen the role of the Senate by making it the Upper House.

The governors said they would push for changes to the Constitution to ensure that Members of County Assembly enjoy similar privileges with MPs and create a role for counties in security matters.

At a press conference attended by 16 governors from both sides of the political divide, a steering committee and a technical team were formed to lead the campaign.

The committee will be chaired by Meru’s Peter Munya and comprises 14 other governors.

The technical team is made up of eminent academics like University of Nairobi’s Professors Winnie Mitula and Wachira Maina.

Others are Law Society of Kenya secretary Apollo Mboya, economist David Ndii, Peter Wanyama and Mansur Isaack.

NO POLITICAL MOTIVE

The two teams will work hand in hand to develop a draft Bill which will be presented to county assemblies for debate once the process secures the support of at least one million signatures.

“We will be dealing with a Bill, not a question and there are people who are already drafting it,” said the Council of Governors chairman Isaac Ruto at a press conference in Nairobi.

Though the governors were at pains to explain that their push had no political motive, their approach is noticeably similar to the one adopted by the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (Cord).

“This clarion call is predicated on the need to adequately finance devolution for purposes of service delivery whilst taking into account the interests of all Kenyans. It has no political inclinations,” said Nyeri Governor Nderitu Gachagua, who read the statement.

The approach entails the collection of one million signatures which alongside the draft Bill passed by at least 24 county assemblies will be taken to the Senate and the National Assembly for ratification.

If the Bill is ratified by the two Houses, it will automatically become law but should it be rejected by both or either of them, it will be subjected to a national referendum.

The inclusion of the amendment to ensure MCAs enjoy similar privileges as MPs and the strengthening of the Senate by making it the Upper House appears aimed at ensuring that the draft Bill sails through the 47 county assemblies and the Senate.

DEVIOUS SCHEMES
The governors want the draft Bill to propose amendments to the Constitution to increase the amount of money allocated to counties from the current 15 per cent to a minimum of 45 per cent, to review the law on impeachment or recall of elected leaders and to ensure MCAs enjoy similar privileges as MPs.

The Bill will also propose a clear separation of roles between the national and county governments, clarify the role of the counties in the management of environment, forestry, land and natural resources, convert the Equalisation Fund into a county government fund to be administered by the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) and provide for the formation of a Loans and Grants Council to guarantee equity between the national and county governments.

The governors announced that they would engage MCAs in consultations to ensure that the push won the support of Kenyans at the grassroots.

“MCAs in each county government will initiate consultation with wananchi on the steps we should take as a country to fortify devolution as one of the critical pillars of our Constitution,” Mr Gachagua said.

Throughout yesterday’s press conference, the governors lamented what they termed devious schemes by both the Executive and Parliament to kill devolution by starving it of resources.

SEVEN-YEAR QUESTION
“There is deliberate muzzling of legislation, policy and regulations in a manner that does not augur well with devolution. Currently, there are 23 laws that are retrogressive to devolution. If we are to go to court on each of these, we will take seven years to settle the matter,” they said.

They cited the reduction of the conditional grant for Level Five hospitals from Sh3.6 billion to Sh1.8 billion, the retention of Sh103 billion meant for county governments’ functions as per the Constitution and the establishment of the County Oversight Boards.