Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has criticised the Senate’s practice of repeatedly summoning governors to appear before committees in Nairobi, terming it a waste of time that undermines devolution.
Speaking in Homa Bay County on Thursday during the second day of the 9th Devolution Conference, the ODM leader argued that county assemblies, not the Senate, are mandated to oversight county governments. According to him, only the Public Accounts Committee and the Public Investment Committee should have the authority to summon county executives—and even then, not the governors themselves.
“It is unnecessary for Senate to be summoning governors to appear before committees in Nairobi,” Raila said. “A governor’s role is to manage county affairs. Summoning them constantly distracts from service delivery.”
Odinga emphasised that centralism where key decisions are made in Nairobi was outdated, advocating for expanded devolution to empower local leaders. He proposed that counties be given control over education up to secondary school level, rural and urban road construction, and funds currently under the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF) and the National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF).
“It is a shame to see a Minister of Education inspecting school infrastructure in counties,” he remarked. “Such work should be the responsibility of governors.”
On infrastructure, Odinga questioned why agencies such as KeRRA, KURA, and KeNHA still control county roads, saying local authorities should manage them to speed up development. “There’s no better way to grow the economy than having major road construction going on across all 47 counties at the same time,” he said.
He further proposed that governors who serve two full terms be automatically entitled to a pension, similar to MPs. “Why can’t we accord the same dignity to governors after their service?” he posed.
While acknowledging that some of his proposals may require constitutional amendments, Odinga noted that others could be implemented through legislation and delegation of functions. He insisted his push was not about creating friction between national and county governments but about stopping the national government from micromanaging counties.
“We must constantly fight off the national government’s instincts to hoard power and resources,” he concluded.