Governors step up push for vote
Council of Governors chairman Isaac Ruto (seated right) during the Pesa Mashinani referendum campaign in Bomet on September 20, 2014. Governors are set to use the second devolution conference to push for their involvement in security matters. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Mr Oparanya said governors could not be expected to deliver on their development pledges with the limited funds they were receiving.
- Elsewhere, Deputy President William Ruto said although there was a shortfall in the Budget, the referendum was not necessary because the government was willing to allocate more cash to the counties.
- Chairman of the governors council, Mr Isaac Ruto, Kericho Governor Paul Chepkwony and his Kakamega counterpart Wycliffe Oparanya said they would continue pushing the government until it heeded calls for a referendum to allow Kenyans have the final say on the matter.
Governors Sunday stepped up their call for a referendum, saying that no level of intimidation would make them abandon their push to have more money allocated to county governments.
The county bosses who took their campaign to Malava town and later to Mumias in Kakamega, said no amount of resistance by opponents could reverse the momentum for the Pesa Mashinani initiative.
Chairman of the governors council, Mr Isaac Ruto, Kericho Governor Paul Chepkwony and his Kakamega counterpart Wycliffe Oparanya said they would continue pushing the government until it heeded calls for a referendum to allow Kenyans have the final say on the matter.
They were accompanied by Nandi hills MP Alfred Keter, who said the welfare of the poor and disadvantaged would be improved if the allocation to counties was increased from 15 to 45 per cent.
Mr Ruto said: “We have 15 counties where maternal and child mortality rates are very high compared to Somalia and Afghanistan.”
Prof Chepkwony said residents of Kericho fully supported calls for the referendum.
Mr Oparanya said governors could not be expected to deliver on their development pledges with the limited funds they were receiving.
NOT NECESSARY
Elsewhere, Deputy President William Ruto said although there was a shortfall in the Budget, the referendum was not necessary because the government was willing to allocate more cash to the counties.
He said: “This push for more cash to the counties is unnecessary. We have the policies and strategies to serve people better. Those pushing for more cash should instead come for talks on where they feel there is a short fall.”
Mr Ruto, speaking yesterday at Tumutumu Girls High School in Nyeri County during its 50th anniversary celebrations, said that the government and counties should not be embroiled in unnecessary wrangles.
