Memorial Speech by RAILA ODINGA during Devolution Conference in Kisumu

Appreciating and strengthening Devolved Governance; Working together to Realize the Objectives of Devolution.

Your Excellency the President;

Council of Governors;

One of the amazing achievements of democracy is how its fruits trickle down to supporters and opponents alike.

Those who voted for or against the constitution have equal chance to benefit from its fruits. It is the story of Devolution in Kenya.

We may debate how the counties are being governed. But there can be no doubt that voters want their counties to be supported and strengthened, not wound up or undermined.

Devolution has many challenges. Corruption cartels have commandeered many county governments. Unrepentant believers in the old order are fighting devolved units in the false hope that they can reverse the clock.

Some elected leaders have confused their oversight role with execution, pitting county assemblies against county executives.

Some of the County governments are too tiny to benefit from economies of scale. Nearly all county governments are serving populations grounded in decades of poverty. Many sectors with direct impact on citizens have not been fully devolved. Although Health is devolved, it has serious challenges with regard to funding and personnel.

Agriculture and infrastructure are not fully devolved, but people expect the County governments to deliver on them. In these partially devolved areas, County and National Government Development plans are creating conflicting priorities, confusion and unclear visions.

Some counties are bogged down by tribal and clan tension.

Nearly all county governments are sagging under the weight of expectations. Voters expected that services that had stalled for fifty years in infrastructure, healthcare, tourism, agriculture and employment would take off immediately under county governments.

By and large however, Devolution is changing our country in ways few imagined. There have been loud concerns about corruption. The activities of some members of the County Assemblies and County Executives have been seen as pushing greed and impunity to new levels, sparking off protests.

But there is a positive side to the protests. They indicate that the people are taking control of their destiny. In the days of the old order, nobody questioned the PC, the DC or the DO. Too few knew what had been allocated for their development. Development was what the DC or PC said. Devolution has come with a new boss; the people. Development is what the people say it should be.

The National Government has handed over more powers to politicians and institutions elsewhere in Migori, Muranga, Mombasa, Turkana, Kericho, Bomet and elsewhere. What we do with those powers are absolutely up to us.

Results are trickling everywhere.

In Turkana, they have cut distance to the hospital from 55 kilometres to 35 kilometres in two years. Turkana increased education bursaries from Kshs 150 million to Kshs 300 million in the current financial year. At no one time in the last 50 years did the Government of Kenya allocate such amount of money to the education of Turkana children.

Rural Health Services that long suffered inadequate financing; dilapidated physical facilities; unreliable supply of drugs; absence of adequate medical equipment; and shortage of qualified medical staff have changed.

Nearly every village has access ambulance services from their county government.

In Kisii, each of the nine sub county hospitals has a state-of-the-art ambulance operated by qualified paramedics. This has boosted referral of critical cases by over 340 per cent. Referral of pregnant mothers has increased by 300 per cent. This story is replicated allover the country.Kisii Town is now a 24 hour town after the County Government installed 300 solar lights.

In Arid Marsabit County where water is life literally, the County Government has drilled 26 boreholes in the last two years against less than 15 boreholes drilled by national Government in the last 50 years. A slaughter house is coming up for the first time since independence.

Mombasa County’s School Milk Program has seen over 27,000 children from all the public Nursery and lower primary from class1-3 get school milk 5 days a week. The focus here is to improve nutrition which if not addressed in childhood leads to stunting and low prospects in later life. It is also meant to enhance the transition rate from home to ECD and from ECD to primary school.

The planned water desalination plant by county government will solve a long standing problem that should have been addressed decades ago.

The Muranga Integrated Development Day, incorporating the Muranga Investments Cooperative and Muranga Child Can are pace setters.

Despite the problems the leadership is going through, the amount of talent and capacity the county has put together indicate something worth looking forward to.

We are witnessing regional growth and enterprise outside of Nairobi and the traditional “high potential” areas. Yes, people are still heading to Nairobi for jobs. But millions are instead heading to the county governments.

Kenya’s economy has withstood the shocks coming from insecurity partly because of the investments going on in counties and the promise of these counties. For the first time in our history, we are looking at the possibility of an economy firing on all cylinders.

The point that was missed by the political elite for too long; that we need to rebalance our economy away from its overreliance on the National Government is slowly beginning to sink.

We are beginning to realize that we have other strengths too in other places and that there is actually no low potential part of Kenya.

Despite problems, Devolution has put Kenya on right course, in line with trends in the world; strong economies, built on semi-autonomous and interdependent regions. It is the story of Germany, the US, India, UK.It is a story all Kenyans have bought. If you doubt, just try abolishing a county.[ad name="HTML-2"]

Breaking: Key Terror suspect Arrested Monday Night

A key Al-Shabaab operative has tonight been arrested in Somalia while scouring one of the popular malls in Nairobi’s Kayole estate for a possible attack.

According to sources privy to the operation, Dadacha Yusuf Abdullahi was arrested while sitting inside the Nakumatt Shujaa Mall as he surveyed the building for a possible attack. Dadacha did not know that key security officers followed him from Mandera to Nairobi where he arrived late last week.

Sleuths have been on his tail without his knowledge. He was picked from the crowded mall by the anti-terrorism police officers who have been conducting the investigations.

His arrest brought relief in the security circles as he was believed to be planning an attack at one of the key malls in Eastlands. Security officers breathed a sigh of relief after his arrest and openly celebrated.

Dadacha is believed to be one of the Manyani trained Kenyans who joined the Al-Shabaab after failing to join the Somalia government security as earlier intended. According to investigators, Dadacha was born in Moyale where he also went to school.

 

credit: Kahawa Tungu

GARISSA UNIVERSITY COLLEGE SURVIVOR: I have been given a New "assignment" to finish in my life...

The 22-year-old Gitonga Ng’ang’a is now home with his family in Nairobi after mysteriously surviving the "massare" by Al-Shabaab Terror group.The student and pastor hid under his bed after hearing shooting at the university. As the gunmen entered his room, he prayed to God to protect his life. “The students were shouting and there were those who were crying, and the gunmen at first they were not talking until they occupied the hostels where we were sleeping. By then they could just speak loudly and say that ‘We are here to kill and to be killed’,” he said. Gitonga believes God, not luck, let him escape “from the claws of the enemy”. “I had to step over blood and the dead bodies of my closest friends and very good friends of mine. It was bitter. It’s even now bitter to remember,” he added.He does not know the reason he was spared, but believes he has now been given a “assignment” to complete in life.

Adopted from: http://techparada.blogspot.com/

The survivor series.

COUNTY NEWS: GOVERNOR AWITI RELEASES THE COUNTY BURSARY CHEQUES

DISTRIBUTION OF COUNTY BURSARY CHECKS KICKED OFF.

October 29^th, 2014.

Homa Bay county Governor, Cyprian Awiti, has started the distribution of cheques to beneficiaries of the sh 40m county bursary fund. Each of the 40 wards will get sh 1M each towards fees for bright but orphans and vulnerable students.

The Governor further asked the assembly to allow him increase the amount to at least sh 60 M to supplement the CDF bursaries.

COUNTY NEWS: HOMA BAY COUNTY FIBRE CONNECTION AND THE FREE WI-FI

Nakuru County was an envy of many people especially the youth from other counties due to its much publicized free wireless fidelity (WI-FI). The mainstream media was fast to declare Nakuru County a free WI-FI zone making it the first town in Kenya to have unrestricted internet connectivity and the third town in Africa and 16^th globally to have free WI-FI.

The sh 200 million project, which was a partnership between statehouse Digital Team and the Nakuru county Government was aimed at enhancing information communication Technology and ensure better service delivery, this was before it flopped badly.

Homa Bay County is set to be the next in line, through its governor, the County seeks to better Information Technology. The county government has opted for the installation of a fiber optic cable, an idea good implemented and real. In his facebook post, the governor wrote, “A sh 250m project to improve internet connectivity in Homa Bay County, officially kicked off on Tuesday. Social media users and the Business community now have a reason to smile because they will not only have a faster browsing speed but cheaper internet charges. I broke the ground for the project at Kabunde in Homa Bay Sub County and promised complete internet connectivity in major offices and town centre’s in two months time. The project is a joint venture between the county Government of Homa Bay and the National Government through the ICT Authority. Homa Bay is among the First counties to benefit from the project expected to interconnect all the47 counties. The project will help the county achieve the following:

• Faster and cheaper internet connectivity.


• Teleconferencing


• Stronger and cheaper WI-FI connection


• Job creation.

It will be done in THREE phases. “The first phase, known as the BACK BONE will involve a 34 km cable link from Homa Bay to Rongo where it will join the Kisii-Migori line. Phase two of the project, will involve connectivity of all offices at the county headquarters, And the county assembly, the police, post office and other offices. Third phase will include the Local Area Network (LAN) that will see the connectivity to all offices at the county headquarters.

In his closing remarks, the Governor said they value the project as a County Government because once completed it will help fast track the development agenda of the county.