Two South Rift Senators and three MPs have told the council of governors and Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) that collection of signatures for a referendum is a futile effort since it would take Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) over a year to verify their authenticity.
Speaking during a fundraising event for local artistes in Kericho town, Kericho senator Charles Keter, Wilfred Lesan, (Bomet) MPs Benjamin Langat (Ainamoi) Joseph Limo (Kipkelion East) and Moses Cheboi of Kuresoi North told governors and CORD that a referendum quest was not a walk in the park. “We are encouraging governors and the Opposition to fast track the collection of 1 million signatures each, but what we are also telling them is that it would take IEBC very long to verify them,” said Keter.
He disclosed that the governors and CORD would face a second challenge since the Government has not set aside any funds in its budget for holding a referendum in the current financial year. “If there is money that would be set aside for holding a referendum, we would probably factor it in the 2015/2016 financial year and we are even going to only set aside very little money,” he said.
The Kericho Senator argued that there was no need for the country to spend Sh8 billion on a referendum “simply” for revenue allocation to the counties to be increased from 43 to 45 per cent. “We know the owners of the referendum and the game they want to play. But we know how to play it better than them,” he said.
On ICC and President Kenyatta
Keter, at the same time, dismissed International Criminal Court (ICC) judges’ summonses for President Uhuru Kenyatta to appear before the tribunal on October 8, saying: “The President has a lot of pending work such as infrastructure development to honor the court’s summons. The Deputy President’s case at the ICC is coming to an end and that is the last we want to hear about the court”.
Later in Kakamega, the Kericho Senator, while speaking at a fundraiser at Friends Secondary School Sidikho in Navakholo constituency, said: “We can increase allocation of funds to counties without holding a referendum in this country. The national Government has been increasing allocations each year not through referendum but good will to have development across the country.”
He said governors and CORD should constitute a committee of experts to have their referenda during the next General Election so that Kenyans can vote for seven slots (of president, governor, senator, MP, women representative, MCA and their referendum) on the ballot paper. He said in the last financial year the national Government increased allocations to the counties to 30 per cent and this year to 43 per cent, and that they were also ready to add more funds to make it 45 per cent as governors wish, even without a referendum.
Keter was accompanied to Kakamega by MPs Emmanuel Wangwe (Navakholo), Cheboi, Ayub Savula (Lugari) and Benard Shinali of Ikolomani. Kuresoi MP Moses Cheboi urged governors to be accountable for the funds previously allocated to them before they call for more funds. “I am ready to push for more funds to be allocated to the counties to initiate more development projects, but leaders should be ready to account for what they have been given first before pushing for additional funding,” said Cheboi.
His words were echoed by the Ikolomani MP, who said he supported the calls for more funds to counties, but not the referendum calls. He said the calls for a plebiscite would put the country into a campaign mood throughout and affect development projects.
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