Opposition leader Raila Odinga believes the future of the country’s development lies in county units and now wants the government to heed calls from governor and devolve more resources to the grassroots.
The opposition and Council of Governors have been in the forefront championing for more devolved resources to the county units in the last three years with the two wings proposing Okoa Kenya and Pesa Mashinani bills respectively that are seeking to increase the allocation of funds to county governments.
Odinga challenged the government during Kisii Entrepreneurship Summit to join hands with the opposition and change the constitution to allow allocation of more resources to the county governments.
“The government should be in the front line championing for devolution and change the allocation policy to a minimum of 45 percent of the national budget. We have seen this noble idea work in all counties since many locals can now easily access water, good roads and health services due to devolution," he said.
He warned the government of being an impediment to development by sabotaging devolution in the form of delaying the release funds from the treasury.
“This government has been an impediment to development for a long time. Its officials are out to sabotage development by delaying releasing of funds to counties from the treasury. This is what Cord is fighting and the government has to respect the rule of law by supporting devolution,” he added.