Former Prime Minister Raila Amollo Odinga on Saturday, April 26, 2025, extended his criticism of President William Ruto’s administration over what he termed as withholding of funds earmarked for devolution.
Speaking in Kericho County, where he attended Franklin Bett’s daughter’s farewell party, Raila pointed an accusing finger at the government of the day, claiming that it was to blame for derailing devolution.
Raila lamented that most governors were struggling to fulfil their mandate due to the failure by the national government to remit funds for their operations.
He further claimed that some of the money meant for devolution was being directed into other projects, which he argued could be implemented by the county governments.
For instance, he cited the money allocated to members of parliament for road construction, maintaining that lawmakers have no business building roads.
For the umpteenth time, Raila implored the national government, through the national treasury, to release the rightful share of funds to devolved units.
“You don’t want to blame governors because you are not giving them resources. If you are giving them resources properly, the entire country will be working,” Raila stated.
“Right now, the counties are employing people and experts, but there is no work for those people- they are sitting in the offices because there are no funds for them to work,” Raila explained.
“So, release the resources to the counties and devolution will work for our country,” he demanded.
Assault on devolution
His remarks come amid mounting tension between the Council of Governors and lawmakers over proposals to transfer control of billions of shillings from county governments to the national level through amendments to the Kenya Roads Board Act.
Governors have protested the plan, terming it an assault on devolution.
However, the ODM boss noted that infrastructure development, such as road construction, is a devolved function and should be managed by the respective counties.
He also openly called Ruto for usurping governors’ powers by taking over the building of markets. Speaking in Mombasa in early April 2025, Raila insisted that building markets should be reserved for governors since they are within their jurisdiction.
“What business does the national government have building a market in Majengo, Mombasa? That is a county function. The Constitution is clear,” he insisted.
His sentiments were recently echoed by Kisumu Governor Anyang Nyong’o, who, without mincing his words, accused Ruto of undermining devolution.
“The truth is that the Ruto regime has decided to go back to pre-devolution times of the Nyayo era. The 2010 Constitution is a hindrance to its primitive accumulation schemes,” he claimed.
“This will affect not only devolution but the very ethos of building a national democratic and developmental state.”