ADDRESS BY RT HON RAILA ODINGA TO SIAYA COUNTY ASSEMBLY

 9:31 am /  News & Media.

I am glad to be here as we continue to mark Devolution’s second birthday in Kenya.
Kenya’s devolution project is among the most rapid and ambitious in the world. Its full implementation was never going to be accomplished in a hurry or within one election circle.

But I know four things for sure. One, devolution is changing lives. Two, Kenyans love their counties and they want Devolution to succeed. Three, County governments face numerous challenges implementing devolution. And four, Devolution has powerful enemies in powerful places in Kenya.

I am therefore particularly happy to speak to you soon after President Barack Obama reminded us of the gaps we need to close in our country to attain equitable and inclusive development.

President Obama reminded us that today, a young child in Nyanza Province is four times more likely to die than a child in Central Province — even though they are equal in dignity and the eyes of God.

This reality poses challenges and present opportunities to the leadership of our devolved units. The only way to close the gap is by strengthening the counties.

Yet as we speak, County governments remain locked in battles with the National Government for their fair share of national revenue and the full transfer of functions guaranteed in the constitution.  Poor capacity and unclear roles of county executives and assemblies is further feeding into the confusion. 

Impeachment votes and court cases hang over virtually every county government. Virtually every governor, deputy governor, county assembly speaker has faced impeachment charges. 

The inter party and intra party political battles have continued to destabilize county administrations including here in Siaya. Some of the votes and court cases bear the marks of sponsorship by the National Government and other assorted enemies of Devolution.

These battles are really needless. But they will likely intensify as we get closer to the 2017 elections.

Counties are struggling with a bloated wage bill, overlapping mandates and duplication of initiatives between the national and county governments.

And then there is corruption. Like in the National Government, corruption cartels have emerged in and commandeered many county governments. The County government here is said to have lost millions of shillings through fictitious payments, bursaries to non-existent students and faulty tendering.

While there is little county governments can do stop the National Government from sabotaging them, the counties have the power to stop corruption within their ranks, including here in Siaya.

It is within the powers of Siaya county government to come clean on accusations of misuse of funds, rein in the corrupt and to prosecute those found to be involved in corruption.

That is the only way to restore confidence in this and other county administrations. Kenyans deserve better than this contest on whom, between the national and county governments is more corrupt than the other. Kenyans expect the counties to offer a clean break from the theft long associated with the National Government and that continues to date.

However, while challenges exist, they are no reason to fight devolution. Some county governments have done in two years what the national government was unable to do in fifty years. Here in Siaya, the County Government is projecting a 41 per cent increase in maize production, from 130,500 metric tonnes last year to 185 metric tonnes this year. You have more than 20 tractors available to farmers, up from less than five two years ago. You have over 100 acres of land under irrigation. Investment in infrastructure has seen 870 kilometres of new roads since 2013, thereby increasing access to markets for farmers. Long stalled water services are up and running.

There are improvements in service delivery particularly in regions that had previously been neglected. Two months ago, I visited Wajir and sampled its first tarmac road in 50 years. For fifty years, school children in Wajir had only been reading about tarmac roads as some kind of superb invention beyond their reach, which they could only see in photographs from other parts of Kenya and the rest of the world.

Partly because of the opportunities created by the County Government, today, there is Air Turkana flying from the Wilson Airport to Marsabit, Ileret, Loiyangalani, Lodwar and Kitale.

I am convinced that with a little time and patience, devolution is going to deliver more benefits allover Kenya.

To achieve this, county governments must address the high administrative costs and salaries so they can have enough for development. Counties must get their priorities right. They must come up with sound development agenda.

County governments must be ready to collect and incorporate citizen views in their development activities. They must develop an effective machinery to inform citizens of how devolution impacts their lives. This is extremely crucial to stop propaganda by the national government that corruption started with the coming of devolution. County governments must fight corruption before it becomes a culture like in the national government.

But Counties are not going to succeed in an environment of hostility, duplication and outright undermining by the national government. The Health sector faces serious challenges with regard to funding and personnel. Agriculture and infrastructure are not fully devolved, but people expect the County governments to deliver on them. There is no clarity on who is responsible for what roads.

In partially devolved areas, County and National Government Development plans are creating conflicting priorities, confusion and unclear visions.

In a period of great anxiety, when the education system in northern Kenya has shut down because of banditry and terrorism, it makes no sense at all to keep governors out of security matters. When the children of Baringo, Wajir or Pokot miss school, the biggest losers will first and foremost be those counties.

However, as time goes by, it is becoming increasingly clear that the goodwill will never come from the National Government. The creation of the Ministry of Devolution was, from the start and continues to be, a manifestation of the National Government’s intention to frustrate counties and retain control at the centre. Devolution ministry is the Ministry of Local Government by another name. County governments ought to deal directly with the National Treasury and the National Government.

The Ministry of Devolution exists to ensure it does not happen. There is no intermediary between the State and Federal Governments in the US. There should be none here.

But this is part of an old script of how county governments were undermined and killed after independence that is being replayed. The refusal by the National Government to release funds to the counties is not new. It happened in the 1964-9165 period leading to motion of no confidence against the Prime Minister of Kenya Jomo Kenyatta by Kadu. Then as now, they undermined the Senate, bypassing it in bills it ought to have had a say in.

Those who have known marginalization have to stand up for Devolution now. Devolution has proved that the long told narrative of low potential and high potential areas was a lie.

Devolution has proved that it is possible to have regional growth and enterprise outside of Nairobi. Devolution has proved that it is possible to have an economy firing on all cylinders. Devolution has proved that we do not have to control the National Government to chart our destiny.

It is possible to rebalance our economy away from its overreliance on the National Government.
County governments will have to fight harder for what is or should be theirs. They must fight for their interests to be seen as national interests.
The Council of Governors must be bold and unapologetic in demanding that the National Government lets go of sectors that have been or that need to be devolved.

We must stand up for that child in Nyanza who is four times more likely to die than the one in Central. We must stand up for that mother in Turkana who is more likely to walk hundreds of kilometres to get water than mothers elsewhere. We must stand up for the children in Pokot who are several times more likely to miss school than age mates elsewhere because the National Government has sidelined their region for fifty years.

Devolution is the only way to close the gap and ensure equitable and inclusive development. Devolution is worth safeguarding at all costs.
Thank you.

President Obama reminded us that today; a young child in Nyanza Province is four times more likely to die than a child in Central Province — even though they are equal in dignity and the eyes of God. This reality poses challenges and opportunities to the leadership of our devolved units. The only way to close the gap is by strengthening the counties.

- See more at: http://rao.co.ke/my-speech-to-the-siaya-county-assembly/#sthash.lETRuMYm.dpuf