Recent protests by chiefs political says Raila

Written By:Nelly Moraa,    Posted: Wed, Nov 28, 2012

Raila said the chiefs were directed to initiate campaigns against the ODM Party at the grass root and influenced to stage protests. Prime Minister Raila Odinga says the recent wave of protests by chiefs countrywide is political and is accusing a section of government of being behind the demonstrations. The PM revealed of a plot hatched by senior government officials which saw Chiefs mobilized to a meeting held in Embakasi Nairobi in September and October where they were incited against an Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) presidency. Raila said the chiefs were directed to initiate campaigns against the ODM Party at the grass root and influenced to stage protests after being led to believe that they will be sacked after the general election if ODM takes power. The premier made the revelations in parliament Wednesday afternoon during the Prime minister's time as he issued a statement on the road to implementation of the devolved system of government. He reassured chiefs that their jobs were secure as provided for in the constitution and the restructuring of the provincial administration will take place within a period of five years and during which the chiefs' jobs will be intact. He however said the country should prepare for a shift in governance and the role of county commissioners, governor, and other officers in the provincial administration will be clear once the devolved system of government is operational. The premier said his office is already handling the issue with the civil servants involved in inciting the chiefs warning civil servants against partisan politics. Raila also hailed the passage of the County funds sharing plan in an extended sitting of parliament last night. He said the passage of the bill begins a process of making Kenya equal and addressing inequities currently witnessed under a centralized system. He directed the relevant ministries to hasten the drafting of the division of revenue bill, county allocation of revenue bill and the county appropriation bills that will now give legal capacity for counties to spend these funds. Parliament last night adopted the report of the parliamentary budget committee which based the sharing formula of national revenue on population, poverty index, land area, basic equal share and fiscal discipline for the next three years. The constitution in Article 203 directs the national governmentt to allocate 15 percent of all revenue collected to be disbursed to county governments. The Prime minister said the adoption of the report will see marginalized areas like Turkana receive sh 8 billion annually, Mandera sh7 billion and others to receive funds as calculated using the formula parliament adopted. The commission for revenue allocation had proposed 45 per cent  for population, 20 per cent for poverty index, 8 per cent for land area, 25 percent for basic equal share and 2 per cent fiscal responsibility. This allocation will be reflected in the 2013/2014 budget estimates as the country gears for a devolved system of government after the March 4th general election.