HOMA BAY, Kenya – Former prime minister Raila Odinga has cautioned President William Ruto against empowering the now-defunct provincial administration at a time that Kenya is celebrating 62 years of self-governance.
Speaking during this year’s Madaraka Day national celebrations at the Raila Odinga Stadium in Homa Bay County, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party leader said the head of state should instead focus on empowering devolution.
“I want to plead with you (Mr. President), please don’t resurrect the provincial administration. Provincial administrations are a relic of colonialism and have no place in a free and independent Kenya,” Raila said.
According to Raila, Kenyans are eager to see to it that county governors get enough resources to do their work.
“These governors should be given space to serve Kenyans since they are also going to be supervised by other institutions. We also want our MPs to continue doing their work effectively by representing, legislating, and overseeing the national government. But let the development be done by the county governments themselves,” explained Raila.
What hosting Madaraka Day in Homa Bay means
Raila also lauded the head of state for allowing this year’s Madaraka Day national celebrations to be held in Homa Bay County.
“This is a great day for Homa Bay County, but more importantly, it is a testament that devolution works if it is empowered,” he added.
62 years ago, Raila observed that Kenya’s founding fathers, after a very long struggle for independence, attained internal self-government on this day.
“This is the day when Kenyans had the hope that the country was going to be independent. They went on to coin the Kenyan dream in our national anthem. You will find it in several stanzas of our national anthem,” he explained.
Why President Ruto should empower devolution
At that time, the ODM boss stated that Kenya’s founding fathers also coined a constitution that had devolution called Majimbo at that time.
“All these years, we have had changes, but we eventually bought devolution in our constitution. I now want to invite you, Mr. President, to ensure that devolution works—an empowered devolution,” Raila pleaded with the president.
Raila called upon the head of state to ensure that more resources come down to the counties.
“Let the counties have more resources so that they can be able to provide services to the people. Also, other services were not devolved, but those that can be delegated and implemented by the county governments,” Raila added.
