Opposition leader Raila Odinga addressing supporters during a NASA rally at Tononoka grounds in Mombasa on Friday August 4, 2017. [Photo: Hassan Joho/ facebook.com]
Kenyans will enjoy more fruits of devolution if the National Super Alliance (NASA) takes over power after August 8, Opposition leader Raila Odinga has said.
Raila said there is no commitment from Jubilee to increase budgetary allocation to counties.He said devolution is presently the cornerstone of development and denying counties more money amounts to under-developing the country.Counties currently share 15 per cent of the total budget but the opposition has been rooting for the increase in the allocation to 45 per cent.Raila pushed for a referendum to increase county budgetary allocation but the IEBC in March 2014 declared the proposal to amend theConstitution had collapsed for failing to meet the required threshold of one million signatures.Then IEBC chairman Issack Hassan said analysis of the data presented by the opposition showed that only 891,598 registered voters supported the initiative from the signatures presented.The number fell short of the one million registered voters required by law.“They have been saying that counties have mismanaged funds but they have not told us what the 25 per cent they remained within Nairobi has done,” Raila said as he addressed university students in Mombasa on Friday before heading to Mama Ngina grounds for a major rally.