NAIROBI, Kenya Nov 11 – Deputy President William Ruto has insisted on the need to bring everyone on board in discussions surrounding Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) constitution review process saying the document should focus on building bridges towards consensus and not build walls.
The DP, who spoke on Tuesday hours after former Prime Minister Raila Odinga ruled out any significant amendments to the document, specifically said the recommendations by the Council of Governors (CoG) to improve devolution should be addressed.
CoG and the County Assemblies Forum (CAF) who had retreated in Naivasha on Tuesday to discuss the BBI document came up with a raft of proposals to be included in the BBI report.
The DP, who welcomed CoG and CAF proposals said that under the current matrix, devolution has decentralized power, resources and growth centers and has eliminated marginalization, reforms that should not be eroded through a review of the constitution.
Odinga, through a statement issued on Tuesday, had said the report could only edited where it sounds vague or general.
“It is basically done and there is little likelihood that new ideas will be pushed into it. However, there are groups that feel their views were not captured in the manner they were presented during the collection of views and those are the corrections we are promising to make.”
Among the proposals fronted by Governors’ Council include the involvement of county bosses in matters of national security, which is currently not among devolved functions.
The Governors also want the Office of the Controller of Budget to be decentralized to all the 47 County Governments.
“Additionally, the role of the controller of budget should only be limited to ensuring that funds disbursed are in conformity with the budget, and that the Controller of Budget does not perform the functions of the Auditor General or any other investigative agencies,” CoG said.
As part of their proposals, the Governors want National Treasury be established as an independent institution to serve both levels of government.
“Two Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) systems should be adopted; one for the National Government and another for County Governments,” the county boss proposed.
About The Author
