TNA governors quit referendum push

Kiambu Governor William Kabogo addresses the Press after a meeting attended by TNA’s county bosses to discuss the push for a referendum at Weston Hotel in Nairobi. [Photo: MBUGUA KIBERA STANDARD]

The push by county chiefs for a referendum was dealt a blow after governors allied to President Uhuru Kenyatta’s The National Alliance (TNA) announced they had abandoned the mission.

Succumbing to pressure from the President, seven TNA governors opted out of the push to amend the Constitution through a referendum vote and instead said they would seek alternative ways to have their demands addressed.

The ruling party’s governors appeared to have cowed under pressure from the Jubilee leadership, which has vowed to block the referendum claiming the county chiefs were only players in a game whose master is CORD leader Raila Odinga.

This view was lent credence by the statements of the TNA governors who alleged that although the quest was noble, it had been hijacked by the Opposition. And perhaps to capture the intense pressure they were in to quit, Kiambu Governor William Kabogo gave the clearest indication that Uhuru had prevailed on them to withdraw from the campaign.

"If the President says no, who am I to say yes?" Kabogo asked reporters soon after attending a TNA governing council meeting.

He added: "We want pesa mashinani? Yes. But is the referendum the only way? No. The push for a referendum is ill-timed because it has political motives."

The Kiambu Governor was the second to announce his exit following an earlier announcement by Nyeri's Nderitu Gachagua who quit citing similar reasons.

"I feel that it is unattainable with CORD on board," Gachagua said, adding that this was his personal position.

And immediately after the TNA meeting held at the Weston Hotel in Nairobi, Kirinyaga's Joseph Ndathi addressed journalists saying that they had resolved to back off from the referendum push, as it was unnecessary and ill timed.

"The referendum can be painful and if it can be avoided we will take that route. Again I want to reiterate that our push as governors was different from what CORD is pushing for," Ndathi said.

Apart from Ndathi and Kabogo, other governors present included Mwangi wa Iria (Murang'a), Kinuthia Mbugua (Nakuru), Martin Wambora (Embu) and Waithaka Mwangi (Nyandarua)

However, for TNA to convince the county bosses to abandon the referendum quest, they were promised that the ruling coalition would marshal enough numbers to pass an amendment to the Constitution to increase the resources to counties.

TNA resolved to form a committee to harmonise issues being raised by county chiefs with a view to drafting the amendment. It came on the back of indications that TNA's main partner in Jubilee, the United Republican Party (URP) was also holding consultations with its governors to take the cue from their TNA colleagues.

URP says that it will not hold any formal meetings, but some of its governors have expressed their intentions to follow TNA's suit.

"Most of our governors, save for Isaac Ruto, have indicated their intention to opt out and consultations are going on to enable this to take place," said Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen.

A defiant Ruto dismissed his colleagues' decision terming it inconsequential, and accused the governors who are mainly from Central of retreating to their ethnic cocoon.

He said the CoG had seen the withdrawal by their Central Kenya colleagues coming following sustained pressure from government figures he said were blackmailing them.

"They always isolate themselves from important national matters, and this will not derail our push whatsoever since the seven regions will unanimously support the referendum. When we succeed, even those who have abandoned us will benefit from the fruits," Ruto said.

TNA chairman Johnson Sakaja said the governors agreed to a proposal to address their grievances through legislation by the National Assembly.

Sakaja and TNA Secretary General Onyango Oloo said the party is committed to setting up a team to look at how the issues raised by the county bosses can be resolved without a referendum.

"We want to address these issues through legislation. Kenyans want development at this time and not politics," Sakaja said.

He said the team would reassure governors of their full support from Members of the National Assembly and senators, despite increasing public perception that the three cannot work together.

Nyandarua Senator Muriuki Karue termed yesterday's TNA meeting as fruitful and promising.

The strategy to silence the governors was mooted by Jubilee leaders Aden Duale (National Assembly Majority Leader), Kithure Kindiki (Senate Majority Leader) and Murkomen who had vowed to take the war to the grassroots by painting the governors as sympathisers of CORD, a strategy which appears to have worked.

A fortnight ago the three asked Jubilee-allied governors to retreat from the referendum bid or face isolation in the 2017 General Election.