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Governors: Why we said ‘No’ to Uhuru
REFERENDUM | County bosses to start collecting signatures from the public next week
Governors spurned the latest overtures by the Jubilee administration asking them to drop their referendum bid because the government has not given them any concrete commitments on the Sh102 billion they are seeking to be given to counties. Council of Governors (CoG) chairman Isaac Ruto told the Sunday Nation the bulk of the money was being held by the ministry of Health (Sh19 billion), ministry of Water (Sh24 billion) and ministry of Roads (more than Sh30 billion). “In total we are asking for Sh102 billion for devolved functions and many more in the so-called Jubilee promises that were in our manifesto,” said Mr Ruto, who is also the Bomet Governor.
The CoG is also demanding that the government devolves management of forests, lands and education funds for infrastructure development. On Wednesday Governor Ruto led his colleagues Peter Munya (Meru) and Ahmed Abdullahi (Wajir) to a State House meeting with President Uhuru Kenyatta, which was thought would result in the governors dropping their bid. But the Bomet governor said the meeting they had with the President was more talk and less action, something the county governments are not prepared to take. “They called us to State House and we took ugali and said ‘kwaheri, tuonane kesho’ (goodbye, see you another time). There was nothing to bank on and we were not engaged in a structured manner to find a solution to our issues,” he said.
The governor, who some in his United Republican Party consider a rebel, added: “We agreed to talk but the challenge is that they were on the defensive. We are still willing to call off the referendum on the basis that our issues are resolved, not by words, but deeds.” The Bomet governor added that the threats by the Jubilee hierarchy to discipline the county chiefs will not solve the matter but will only harden positions. “We need our issues addressed because the referendum now belongs to the people, not CoG. It is now in the hands of the citizens and we can only call it off if we have actionable answers to take back to the people,” he added. The vow to push ahead with the referendum quest, defying pleas from President Kenyatta and the Jubilee hierarchy for dialogue, could set the stage for political confrontation with the ruling coalition. Earlier, Governor Ruto dared Jubilee to make good its threat and discipline county chiefs supporting the referendum as he vowed to continue with the push until there was more allocation of funds.
“Our position will not change just because some people think that we can be threatened to quit. No amount of boardroom negotiations can thwart this worthy cause,” he said. The stand remains a political headache to Deputy President William Ruto and his URP wing of Jubilee, a week after President Kenyatta asked those who supported the referendum calls to resign and seek re-election.
Governors spurned the latest overtures by the Jubilee administration asking them to drop their referendum bid because the government has not given them any concrete commitments on the Sh102 billion they are seeking to be given to counties. Council of Governors (CoG) chairman Isaac Ruto told the Sunday Nation the bulk of the money was being held by the ministry of Health (Sh19 billion), ministry of Water (Sh24 billion) and ministry of Roads (more than Sh30 billion). “In total we are asking for Sh102 billion for devolved functions and many more in the so-called Jubilee promises that were in our manifesto,” said Mr Ruto, who is also the Bomet Governor.
The CoG is also demanding that the government devolves management of forests, lands and education funds for infrastructure development. On Wednesday Governor Ruto led his colleagues Peter Munya (Meru) and Ahmed Abdullahi (Wajir) to a State House meeting with President Uhuru Kenyatta, which was thought would result in the governors dropping their bid. But the Bomet governor said the meeting they had with the President was more talk and less action, something the county governments are not prepared to take. “They called us to State House and we took ugali and said ‘kwaheri, tuonane kesho’ (goodbye, see you another time). There was nothing to bank on and we were not engaged in a structured manner to find a solution to our issues,” he said.
The governor, who some in his United Republican Party consider a rebel, added: “We agreed to talk but the challenge is that they were on the defensive. We are still willing to call off the referendum on the basis that our issues are resolved, not by words, but deeds.” The Bomet governor added that the threats by the Jubilee hierarchy to discipline the county chiefs will not solve the matter but will only harden positions. “We need our issues addressed because the referendum now belongs to the people, not CoG. It is now in the hands of the citizens and we can only call it off if we have actionable answers to take back to the people,” he added. The vow to push ahead with the referendum quest, defying pleas from President Kenyatta and the Jubilee hierarchy for dialogue, could set the stage for political confrontation with the ruling coalition. Earlier, Governor Ruto dared Jubilee to make good its threat and discipline county chiefs supporting the referendum as he vowed to continue with the push until there was more allocation of funds.
“Our position will not change just because some people think that we can be threatened to quit. No amount of boardroom negotiations can thwart this worthy cause,” he said. The stand remains a political headache to Deputy President William Ruto and his URP wing of Jubilee, a week after President Kenyatta asked those who supported the referendum calls to resign and seek re-election.
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