Sifuna Says Raila Has Been Given the Wrong Advice
ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna has openly blamed some county governors for giving bad advice to national leaders, especially ODM party leader Raila Odinga.
Speaking on Tuesday during a press conference together with other members of the Senate Public Accounts Committee, Sifuna, who is also the Nairobi Senator, said that certain governors had influenced Raila to make controversial statements about devolution during the recent devolution conference.
Sifuna was responding to earlier remarks by Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua, who had claimed that governors had been misled into thinking that they didn’t need to answer to the Senate.
However, Sifuna corrected that view, saying: “It is not that governors are the ones being misled. Instead, it is governors who are misleading our national leaders. They have even misled my party leader.”
He went on to say that the advice Raila received regarding devolution was not consistent with what Raila had always stood for.
He noted that during a previous meeting with senators, Raila had suggested strengthening the Senate so that devolution could work better – but later gave completely different proposals at the devolution conference.
Sifuna described Raila as the father of devolution in Kenya and said he was shocked by some of the statements Raila made in Homa Bay. According to him, such ideas could only have come as a result of being advised wrongly.
“I know the stand Baba has always had on devolution. That’s why I was surprised to hear him make those remarks. It’s clear that someone has misadvised him,” Sifuna said.
At the devolution conference held on August 14, Raila presented a number of proposals aimed at improving devolution after more than a decade.
One of his proposals was that governors should only be overseen by county assemblies and not the Senate.
He emphasized that county-level Public Accounts and Investments Committees should handle financial questions directed at county executives and governors.
“County governments are supposed to be overseen by county assemblies, not the Senate. There is no need for governors to be summoned to the Senate in Nairobi,” Raila stated.
Raila also suggested that governors who have completed their two terms in office should be given pensions, just like Members of Parliament, to appreciate their service and encourage good governance while in office.
“In Parliament, we made an amendment so that any MP who serves two terms gets a pension. Why can’t we do the same for governors?” Raila asked.
Sifuna believes that such proposals are out of character for Raila, who has always fought for stronger oversight and accountability. He insists that the only explanation is that Raila was wrongly advised, especially by governors who want to weaken the Senate’s oversight role.
This new debate has opened fresh conversations on whether devolution is being handled properly and whether political leaders are still committed to strengthening institutions that hold governors accountable.
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