The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party leader Raila Odinga on Friday admitted that the recent stalemate on the sharing of revenue to counties had stood on the way of the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI).
Mr Odinga in a detailed press statement said the country needed to now get its focus on BBI which he indicated had been vindicated by the revenue standoff at the senate.
"The President's intervention helped the country break the unfortunate stalemate that was also being used by populist politicians to profile revenue sharing as a county against county or region against region contest over national resources, thus polarizing the nation. In the end, however, the nation has won over vested partisan political interests," stated Mr Odinga.
Earlier, Deputy President William Ruto's allies appeared to take credit for the deal reached on Thursday after numerous fruitless seatings but according to Mr Odinga, the government Sh50 billion additional funding to counties ended the impasse.
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Raila, who initially urged the Senators to endorse a formula they amended, says it was now clear that the country's population had outgrown its resources. He has challenged counties and the national government to focus and invest in ventures that would bolster national productivity and wealth creation.
He further reiterated his calls for an intensified fight against graft and cartels both at the local and national government an aspect he says is well placed for actualization under the BBI.
"With the stalemate now out of the way, it is my expectation that the country can now refocus on the envisaged reform agenda that aims to catalyze productivity by making all Kenyans producers rather than mere consumers and dependents, increase revenue to counties and fight corruption," held Mr Odinga.
Deputy President William Ruto's troops have been rallying Kenyans against the anticipated referendum saying the citizenry was more concerned with unemployment and recovery from the adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
