Members of County Assemblies now say they are ready to debate and pass the BBI Bill after verification of signatures by the electoral agency, paving the way to a referendum.
Mr Ndegwa Wahome, who chairs the County Assemblies Forum – the caucus that brings together Assembly Speakers and MCAs from all the 47 county governments – said they no longer oppose the proposals in the document, after a most of their concerns were addressed through amendments made last year.
“Our general concurrence is that devolution and the assemblies are the greatest beneficiaries of the Constitutional Amendment Bill, 2020,” he told the Nation.
“There are also other avenues opened by the process to address the remaining concerns by the Assemblies. These are through legislation, policies and administrative action.”
At least 24 of the 47 county assemblies are required to approve the proposed referendum through a Bill, before it is subjected to a popular vote after a nod from Parliament, making the MCAs a critical block in the BBI process.
The MCAs, who had earlier opposed the document for failing to address some of their demands, had been pushing for a car grant, a pension payable upon serving for two terms, mortgages, and their salaries pegged at 40 per cent of what the governors earn — the same things that MPs get.
For the car grants, the MCAs had proposed that the Sh2 million loan that each of them got to be converted into a grant, with the same applicable to the Sh4 million the Speakers got.
Besides the grants, the MCAs had also called for an increment of the ward development fund to at least 30 per cent of all funds sent to counties, as well as financial autonomy through the amendment of the Public Finance Management Act.
But on Wednesday, Mr Wahome said the last-minute amendments made to the document before the launch of the signature collection drive had addressed most of their grievances, and that the rest would be dealt with administratively.
“We do not have a lot of concerns with the document in its current form. What is left to be addressed will be dealt with through legislation. There are also administrative avenues where some can be addressed,” he said.
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