Raila Odinga during his speech at the Devolution Conference in Homa Bay //Photo courtesy
ODM party leader Raila Odinga has criticised the Senate for what he termed as wasteful and unnecessary repeated summons of county governors to appear before committees in Nairobi. Speaking during the second day of the 9th Devolution Conference in Homa Bay, the former Prime Minister argued that the oversight of county executives is the mandate of County Assemblies, not the Senate.
“It is unnecessary for the Senate to keep summoning governors to Nairobi,” Mr. Odinga said. “Only the Public Accounts Committee and the Public Investments Committee should summon county executives — and not the governors themselves.” According to Mr. Odinga, such practices undermine the spirit of devolution and divert governors from serving their counties.
The ODM leader urged the transfer of more functions to county governments, including education management up to secondary school level, control over road construction, and management of funds currently under NG-CDF and NGAAF. “It is shameful to see the Minister of Education inspecting school projects in the counties — that’s the governor’s job,” he said. On infrastructure, he faulted agencies such as KeRRA, KURA, and KeNHA for managing rural and urban roads from Nairobi instead of empowering counties to take charge. “There’s no better way to grow this economy than to have major road projects running in all 47 counties at the same time,” he noted.
Mr. Odinga also proposed that governors who serve the constitutional two terms should automatically qualify for a pension, similar to MPs who have served two terms. While pushing for less national government control, he clarified that his remarks were not aimed at stirring disputes between the two levels of government. “We must fight the national government’s instincts to hoard power and resources,” he said. “But this is not a call for war between the two levels of government.”
The Homa Bay conference brought together leaders from across the country to discuss the future of devolved governance, with Odinga’s remarks sparking debate over the balance of power between Nairobi and the counties.
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