Jubilee strategy to block referendum

By JACOB NGÉTICH and MOSES NJAGIH

KENYA: Deputy President William Ruto is rallying Jubilee legislators to ?ght attempts by governors and the Senate to push for a referendum that would amend the Constitution.

Members of the National Assembly and the Senate elected under the Jubilee Alliance will be told at Jubilee’s Parliamentary Group meeting tomorrow to totally reject the push to give more powers and money to the counties and strengthen the Senate.

Among the strategies in consideration are nationwide rallies in Jubilee strongholds and selected areas that voted for CORD in the March 4 elections to convince voters that the Government is committed to devolution.

This is to counter claims by former Prime Minister Raila Odinga and his CORD co-principal Kalonzo Musyoka that Jubilee is plotting to kill devolution by starving the counties of funds using the National Assembly.

Ruto will also use the “Raila-Kalonzo factor” that has spooked the Jubilee government, and seen the Deputy President tour some Jubilee strongholds to rally support against the referendum, and convince the senators and governors to go slow on their demands.

Jubilee legislators will also be told that it is too soon to hold a costly referendum just four months after a divisive General Election.

The Deputy President is said to be emboldened by news that Raila’s earlier plan (which he backed away from) to include an amendment on the election of the President in the referendum appears to have become a poison pill, with many - even within the CORD alliance - opposing it.

Sources close to Ruto, but who asked not to be named, intimated to The Standard that he is convinced the “Raila-Kalonzo factor” has already poisoned the bi-partisan spirit between governors and senators allied to Jubilee and CORD, and it is time to rock their boat.

Hijacked push

Instructively, Ruto at the weekend toured Jubilee strongholds rallying the coalition’s elected leaders. CORD leaders led by Raila had chosen their Coast stronghold to launch the campaign and issue a one-month ultimatum to Government to convene a meeting on the roadmap to referendum.

Ruto will ask Jubilee MPs and senators to send a message to their governors in the alliance’s strongholds that former Prime Minister Raila Odinga and his CORD co-principal Kalonzo Musyoka, the former Vice-President, have hijacked the push for amendments to undermine President Uhuru Kenyatta’s regime.

President Kenyatta is out of the country, but is being kept abreast of his deputy’s efforts to sabotage the referendum push by the Senate and governors, sources told The Standard.

It is a message that has previously received a lukewarm reception from Jubilee governors, including Isaac Ruto, who see the proposed amendments as benefiting their counties.

On Sunday, Deputy President William Ruto toured Kirinyaga, after touring Nyandarua the previous day, where he maintained that the push for a referendum is a scheme by Raila’s camp to force a political contest with the Government.

Earlier on Saturday, he led 15 MPs allied to the Jubilee coalition in criticising referendum proponents during a meeting at Emurua Dikirr, an attack apparently directed at chairman of the Governor’s Council, Isaac Ruto, who was present.

And in an apparent climb down from the hard line position advocating for a referendum, Jubilee senators will now push for alternatives other than a referendum.

Senator Kiraitu Murungi alluded to the change of tack when he told The Standard yesterday: “If there are other ways of ensuring that these things are done, we would be happy to go that route instead of going the referendum way. I believe these are the things that we will be discussing at the PG meeting.”

“Initially, we were supportive of the initiative, but CORD has a wider agenda other than strengthening devolution, going by public pronouncements of its leaders.,” said Mandera Senator Billow Kerrow.

Senator Majority Leader Kithure Kindiki was, however, guarded saying the coalition will give a detailed communication over its position on the referendum after tomorrow’s PG. The two had been at the forefront of a bi-partisan push for the constitutional amendment to reinforce devolution.

Raise allocation

The Standard established a strategy to counter CORD’s push for a referendum, including planned nationwide rallies to defend the regime on devolution; this will top the agenda of the meeting of Jubilee MPs tomorrow.

Jubilee leaders expressed concern that the Government is being painted as being anti-devolution through the initiative to change the constitution to raise allocation to counties from 15 to 40 per cent of national revenue.

“Our Jubilee manifesto sets 40 per cent of revenue for allocation to county governments. The CORD manifesto has no figure on how much should go to counties,” Ruto said yesterday.

“The referendum debate has nothing to do with devolution. It’s about distracting the government from implementing its programmes.”

Ruto accused CORD of seeking to squander the Sh6 billion saved after the presidential vote was settled in the first round, that had been allocated to fund youth and women programmes.

But Raila kept up the pressure on Jubilee through a posting on his twitter account yesterday.

“The story of devolution in Kenya is of a people’s struggle for justice and the expectation for equality, equity, and inclusion,” Raila said.

Machakos Senator Johnstone Muthama accused the Jubilee regime of intimidating its leaders who were supportive of the initiative.

Former Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi said Raila’s CORD should not press for a constitutional change on presidential elections.

Senate Deputy Majority leader Charles Keter said Jubilee had allocated 32 per cent of the national revenue to counties, far much more than the constitutionally stipulated 15 per cent. Keter sensationally linked the clamour for referendum to the upcoming International Criminal Court (ICC) trials against President Kenyatta and his deputy.