Governors seek ways to beat Jubilee order on vote

Governors meet in Nairobi on Friday to lay strategies on how to popularise their referendum campaign in Jubilee strongholds.

The meeting comes just a week after President Uhuru Kenyatta dared Jubilee governors who have been pushing for the referendum to quit the ruling coalition and seek fresh mandate from voters.

Sources in the Council of Governors said the talks would seek to identify local leaders to spearhead the Pesa Mashinani campaign in counties where governors have opposed the push for the referendum.

The counties include Kiambu, Nyeri, Laikipia, Embu, Tharaka-Nithi, Murang’a, Nakuru, Baringo, Kirinyaga, Uasin Gishu and Narok. The governors will also discuss their strategies for collecting the one million signatures needed to support the push for a referendum.

“We have a meeting on Friday. We will discuss the referendum but it is not the main agenda, it may come up as an AoB (Any other Business),” the chairman of the Council of Governors, Mr Isaac Ruto, told the Nation. The talks come against the background of a political standoff between the President and his deputy, Mr William Ruto on one hand, and governors from the Jubilee coalition who support the referendum.

Nandi Governor Cleophas Lagat is the latest from Jubilee to support the push. On Tuesday, he said he would not be intimidated by calls to resign.

QUALITY SERVICES

“I serve the electorate and all that we are demanding is adequate funds for delivery of quality services,” he said.

Mr Ruto told the Nation that there would be no turning back on the governors’ push for the referendum. The governors seeking to increase funding for the counties.

“The modalities of launching the signature collection are being handled by our team of experts so there is nothing much to discuss on the referendum matter. It is a matter we dealt with a long time ago and there is no turning back,” he said.

Two governors allied to the Deputy President’s United Republican Party (URP), who sought anonymity for fear of inviting the wrath of the Presidency, said the meeting would discuss the ways of penetrating counties whose governors do not support the referendum campaign.

They said that they would enlist the support of opinion leaders, including clergymen, to push the referendum campaign in such counties.

“In an area like Narok, we will use the deputy governor who is with us,” said a governor from North Rift.

The signature collection will be coordinated by county assemblies in regions which are receptive to the push.

The governors disclosed that they had enlisted hundreds of volunteers to steer the campaign in Bomet, Meru, Kakamega, West Pokot, Nandi, Kericho and Narok.

Apart from Mr Ruto, the governors actively involved in the campaign, are Mr Peter Munya (Meru), Mr Wycliffe Oparanya (Kakamega), Mr Simon Kachapin (West Pokot), Mr Lagat (Nandi) and Prof Paul Chepkwony (Kericho).

In Cord zones, the governors will be in charge of the campaign while MPs will spearhead the Okoa Kenya initiative, one governor said.

In Mombasa, Governor Ali Hassan Joho will spearhead both campaigns, according to his political adviser, Mr Idris Abdirahman. “Joho is supporting both initiatives. In our Junda declaration last Saturday, Joho coined the slogan “Pesa Mashinani, Okoa Kenya”, meaning we are supporting both campaigns,” he said.

MCA'S SUPPORT

The governors are also trying to reach out to Members of County Assemblies (MCAs) to lead the campaigns in receptive regions.

In Nandi and Baringo counties for instance, MCAs have indicated that they will support the referendum.

The County Assemblies Forum’s select committee on the referendum has been going through submissions from the county assemblies on the what position MCAs should take in the debate.

The committee, headed by Migori County speaker Gordon Oluoch, is looking into issues they believe bedevil devolution and require redress.

“We are remaining with 27 days to come up with findings which we will submit to the county assembly forum steering committee to give the way forward,” Mr Oluoch said.

Some MCAs have distanced themselves from the committee, saying that they would follow party affiliations on the debate.

Nairobi MCAs affiliated to the Opposition, Cord, became the second after their Busia colleagues to denounce the resolution to create the committee.

“As Nairobi Cord MCAs, we are distancing ourselves from the move to create a parallel referendum and pledge to support the Okoa Kenya referendum,” Nairobi Majority Leader Elias Otieno said.

Busia Majority Leader Josephat Wandera accused the leadership of the county assembly’s forum of being used by Jubilee to oppose the referendum, claims which forum chairman Nuh Abdi dismissed.

Mr Abdi said that they took a bipartisan approach to allow the committee to find an appropriate position to be taken by all MCAs.