Nderitu Gachagua, William Kabogo back off referendum push

The push for a national referendum by the Council of Governors suffered a setback on Wednesday after two governors withdrew from the campaign.

Nyeri Governor Nderitu Gachagua and his Kiambu counterpart William Kabogo separately opted out of the call for a referendum.

Governor Kabogo described the referendum campaign as ill-timed and a waste of resources and said he would therefore not support it.

The governor said there are other channels that can be used to fight for more allocations without playing politics, adding that by supporting a referendum he will be going against the Jubilee government.

“Leaders are given by God and President Uhuru Kenyatta, who is the leader of this country, does not agree to the referendum. Who am I as Kabogo to say no?” he said.

CAMPAIGN 'HIJACKED'

He made the remarks at Chania Boys High School during the annual AIPCA women conference for central region.

Governor Gachagua, explaining his decision, said the referendum campaign had been hijacked by the Cord coalition.

“This is my personal position as the governor of Nyeri County,” he said.

He said the calls for a referendum were first initiated by the Council of Governors based purely on the need to allocate more resources to the counties as per the new Constitution.

But the initiative, he said, had since been hijacked by Cord leader Raila Odinga, who, the the governor said, has added issues into the campaign that are unclear.

CORD INITIATIVE

He said the perception in the country is that the referendum campaign by the Council of Governors is a Cord’s initiative.

The governor argued that the two referendum campaigns cannot run together.

“I am feeling that it is unattainable to be able to continue defending this referendum calls when Cord is on board,” he said.

He made the remarks while addressing coffee farmers from New Gikaru Coffee Cooperative Society at Thangathi coffee factory in Mukurwe-ini.

Mr Gachagua said he would lobby the Council of Governors to abandon calls for a referendum and to instead open talks with the national government.

REFERENDUM 'UNNECESSARY'

“This is a referendum which is unnecessary if issues of funds are resolved,” said Mr Gachagua.

The Nyeri governor said that though the Jubilee government had initially urged governors to give them time to implement their policies, there has been frustration about the allocation of funds to the counties.

“That is the money meant for health services, agriculture, water and other services being held in Nairobi,” he said.

“We as governors don’t have legislative powers that we can use to agitate change and we needed to go back to Kenyans to decide for us,” he said.