Hire special officers for presidential poll, demands Raila group

The Okoa Kenya campaign leaders Thursday called for the introduction of special returning officers to handle presidential election results from constituency to the national level in the next General Election.

The group also wants special returning officers to handle the results for governors and another set for senators. This would be a departure from the current tradition under which the same returning officer reports results for all the six positions including for Members of the County Assembly, MP, Woman Representative, governor, senator and President to the national tallying centre.

Cord is campaigning for a referendum to change the Constitution.

The winner for the presidential vote is declared by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission chairman after the national tally has been collected.

DEVOLVE ADMINISTRATION POLICE

A meeting of governors, MPs, senators and MCAs supporting the Okoa Kenya initiative, which is spearheaded by Cord leader Raila Odinga, also declared that the Administration Police should be devolved and placed under county administration while the Inspector General of Police retains overall command.

The group unveiled a five-point referendum agenda focusing on devolution, land, judicial and electoral reforms, during the meeting at the Bomas of Kenya in Nairobi Thursday.

The group, led by Mr Odinga, appeared to be paying special emphasis on devolution, a move that could draw them closer to the Pesa Mashinani referendum campaign spearheaded by governors.

Under their proposed constitutional amendment plan, the group wants 45 per cent of revenue collected by the National Government devolved to the counties with five per cent of the amount set aside for a proposed Ward Equalisation Fund.

The amount is to be computed from the previous year’s revenue received as opposed to the current situation where the allocation is drawn from the most recent audited accounts approved by the National Assembly.

JUSTIFICATION FOR MORE MONEY

On provincial administration, the meeting proposed that chiefs and their assistants be retained but the other positions in the system be scrapped.

They also proposed a strong law encouraging inclusivity in public appointments and outlawing the domination of the government workforce by one ethnic group.

They want 30 per cent of all public appointments reserved for minorities and a cap of 15 per cent for any one community. They are also pushing for the strengthening of public institutions and constitutional commissions.

In his address, Mr Odinga dwelt more on devolution to justify the need for more money in the devolved governments.

“We are out to strengthen devolution because we have seen what it can do and what ails it. We have seen what county governments have done with so little money in such a short time,” Mr Odinga said, noting that fears that the billions could end up being lost through corruption were misplaced.

“For months, we have been asking the National Government to account for the Sh15 billion that was stolen from OP (Office of the President). No one is talking,” said Mr Odinga.

DP RUTO CRITICISED

He also criticised Deputy President William Ruto for presiding over too many fundraisings. He claimed that Mr Ruto donated more money than he officially earned from his public office and businesses.

“We need to be told where he is getting all this money because I was also in the same office and I know. It is strange that he is capable of raising Sh10 million a week to offer in fundraisings countrywide,” said Mr Odinga, who was Prime Minister under the Grand Coalition Government whose tenure ended in March last year.

The Deputy President occupies the office that Mr Odinga used when he was Prime Minister.

Thursday, the opposition leader said that in the last 50 years, only 20 boreholes had been drilled in Marsabit. Since the last election, he said, the county government had drilled 20 more.

He said Kisii never had a dialysis machine but one was being set up. He also cited the launching of a 25-kilometre tarmac road in Wajir as a landmark devolution case as it was a first since independence.

RETURNING OFFICERS

On presidential polls, the meeting proposed “that there shall be a returning officer of the presidential, senatorial and gubernatorial elections in every constituency.”

The group also proposed the creation of part-time electoral commissioners appointed by parliamentary political parties. The commissioners would have the power to elect their own chairman.

“We also want the Constitution amended to extend the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to have original and concurrent jurisdiction to determine the constitutionality of new Bills within 30 days after they become law,” said Mr Paul Mwangi, the chairman of the Okoa Kenya Movement Committee of Experts.

Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang’ula said Cord leaders would campaign in all parts of the country to educate the public on the need for the referendum.
Kitui Senator David Musila, who spoke on behalf of Wiper Democratic Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka, who is on a trip to China, asked Kenyans to support a well-funded devolution.