The Council of Governors yesterday said Counties should retain all revenue collected by devolved units.
The Council said Counties should only remit a portion to the National Government to prevent imminent “death” of devolution in the Country.
CoG chairman Wycliffe Oparanya said they will push for inclusion in the Building Bridges initiative (BBI), a clause that will mandate counties to retain all resources they collect and remit 20 per cent to the National Government.
“Signs that saw the death of devolved units in 1964 are replicating themselves. Counties have gone for three months without funds; the only way out of this unending saga is for counties to push their residents to support BBI, ” he said.
Speaking at Kwang’amor Catholic Church in Teso South during a funds drive that realized Sh839,000, Oparanya said the best reward for Kenyans in the 2010 constitution was the creation of devolved units.
He asked Kenyans to guard it jealously.
The CoG chair said Busia and Kakamega have been in the opposition since independence and that its time they form the Government.
Busia Governor Sospeter Ojaamong said he opted to work with Oparanya and Devolution Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa to realize development.
“We need to revive cotton industry to create jobs for the unemployed youths and to empower cane farmers economically, we also want many devolved units to reap from economies of scale, ” he said.
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