Kisumu Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o has opposed recent remarks by Homa Bay Senator Moses Kajwang’ calling for a reduction in the number of counties.
In a statement on Wednesday, April 23, Nyong’o dismissed Kajwang’s proposal to cut down the number of counties from 47 to 31, describing it as a 'knee-jerk reaction.'
He insisted that the current devolution model should not be tampered with and called for the need to reflect on the original rationale behind the structure.
"While speaking in Homa Bay, he expressed dissatisfaction with the number of County Governments and suggested that the number be reduced from 47 to at least 13. I don’t think Hon. Kajwang’s idea will help us. It is a knee-jerk reaction of an accountant mesmerised by the game of easy calculation of figures.
"At the dawn of Devolution, there were several proposals regarding how many counties were needed and appropriate for this nation. These reasons need to be considered before throwing numbers into the vague marketplace of proposals," he stated.
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Nyong’o instead called for a more inclusive and comprehensive debate on the matter.
“I suggest that Kajwang’ should call for a serious discussion involving diverse representatives from different schools of thought, so that this issue can be deliberated upon seriously and resolved in a manner that will benefit the nation," he added.
Nyong'o concluded by affirming his support for the current devolution structure and called for a national evaluation to identify both achievements and overlooked shortcomings.
“In the meantime, I submit that I fully accept the present structure of Devolution. Let us evaluate it, establish what has been achieved, and identify what we could have accomplished after acknowledging some of the shortcomings we might have overlooked," he stated.
Speaking on Sunday, April 20, Kajwang’ proposed the reconfiguration of the devolved system, citing financial inefficiencies.
The ODM senator called for a constitutional amendment to reduce the number of counties to at least 13.
“If I had my way, I would propose an amendment to the constitution for us to reconfigure devolution. I've looked at the books of accounts of all 47 counties; I can tell you most of our county governments are not viable financially.
"I wish we had fewer counties, which means now we could deal with economies of scale. We have too many counties under which we could go back to the earlier draft that had proposed about 13 counties," he said.
