President Uhuru Kenyatta (right) Budalang'i MP Ababu Namwamba (second right ) and Fred Gumo on the banks of River Nzoia on September 7 2014. Mr Kenyatta Sunday turned up the heat on Jubilee governors campaigning for a referendum when he asked them to resign. PHOTO | TOM OTIENO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
President Uhuru Kenyatta Sunday turned up the heat on Jubilee governors campaigning for a referendum when he asked them to resign and seek re-election on a different ticket.
President Kenyatta was talking tough as Jubilee leaders called for the expulsion of governors who are agitating for the referendum to increase funding for counties and protection of devolution.
The President said that governors who support the calls for a referendum were betraying the Jubilee government by going against its position.
“Kenyans elected us to work for them, but some of those with whom we were elected under Jubilee have been running up and down making noise and asking for more money. I am now telling them to resign from their positions and seek re-election under other parties,” he said.
Mr Kenyatta and the deputy president, Mr William Ruto, have taken a strong stand against the push for a referendum by governors, arguing that they were financing counties beyond the constitutional provision of 15 per cent.
They are equally opposed to the referendum push by Cord and have asked the Opposition coalition’s leaders to wait for the next election to have their chance at leading the country.
Governors have accused the Jubilee leadership of being half-hearted in the implementation of devolution and have blamed the ruling coalition’s MPs for moving Motions to weaken it.
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Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto, who chairs the Council of Governors and who has been supporting calls for a referendum, Sunday asked the Government to be more tolerant.
“Jubilee leadership should refrain from intolerance to the extent of threatening governors to stop supporting the push for referendum,” he said in Sotik.
UNITED IN OPPOSITION
But in Kericho, President Kenyatta, who was addressing a church service at the Immanuel Africa Gospel Church said Jubilee was united in its opposition to any referendum.
Later, while addressing a crowd in the town, Mr Kenyatta urged governors to be reasonable in their demands for more money. He accused them of misleading the public by failing to tell Kenyans that they will have to be taxed more if county governments are to be allocated more funds.
The President said county governments had been allocated 32 per cent of shareable revenue last year and this amount increased to 43 per cent this year, although the Constitution had specified a threshold of 15 per cent.
“We do not have additional funds to give counties. If someone knows a tree from which we can harvest money to give governors, they should show me where it is. We get all the money from taxes and we do not want to increase taxes just so that governors can get more money,” he said.
Earlier at the church meeting, Leader of Majority in the Senate Kithure Kindiki called for the expulsion of governors supporting calls for a referendum and asked them to either be ready to toe the line set by Jubilee or resign.
He urged those who were displeased by the decision of the coalition to oppose the referendum to resign and seek a fresh mandate from voters.
“We just want to speak in one voice as Jubilee and those who do not want to do so will have to go,” he said.
Kericho Governor Paul Chepkwony briefly addressed the church meeting, but kept off the referendum issue despite some Members of the County Assembly shouting “Referendum! Referendum!” in an attempt to get him to declare his position in the debate.
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