Governors Ruminate Over the Future of Devolution as Referendum Talks Gain Momentum

From siaya.go.ke

Tens of Governors are participating in presentations and discussions of the fiscal and legal standing of devolution into the future as talks about constitutional amendments gear up nationally.

At a two day conference opened earlier today by Hon. Eugene Wamalwa, Devolution Cabinet Secretary in Nakuru County, the County heads are ruminating over the current economic performance of the Counties, the ballooning debt and it’s net effect being reduced basket for shareable revenue and money for development and how to solve the fiscal crisis whether through constitutional amendments or otherwise.

In his opening remarks at the forum, the Chairman of the Council of Governors His Excellency Wycliffe Oparanya explored the devide between the centralists and the decentralists as the greatest threat to devolution. The Kakamega Governor called for reduced patronage by the national government and increased allocation of funds to counties as key areas of focus for constitutional amendments whatsoever.

Themed “The Future of Devolution”, the forum has a panel of academics, devolution experts, legal scholars, non state actors and elected leaders lined up to explore what possible constitutional amendments would portend for the mwananchi.

Siaya Governor His Excellency Cornel Rasanga in his remarks to the plenary, decried the skewed manner of allocation of mega projects by the national government across the counties and pushed for increased allocation of resources to counties to realize devolution micro objects.

Other talks at the two day conference that ends tomorrow will centre  around how corruption is affecting devolution. The Governors are expected to increasingly move towards a unified position on the raging debate for or against constitutional amendments by the end of this conference.