Amendments the Okoa Kenya Draft Bill wants implemented

The Okoa Kenya has handed over its draft Bill to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

The Bill, which is seeks to amend the Constitution of Kenya 2010 through a popular initiative, was endorsed by at least 1.6 million registered voters.

Among the issues raised by the Okoa Kenya team, which is largely comprised of the opposition Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD), is increased minimum county allocation from 15% to 45% of the total national government revenue.

This, it says, will go a long way in ensuring counties have enough funds to drive their development projects as well as finance operational needs.

It also seeks to establish a Ward Development Fund (WDF), a replica of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF). The kitty’s allocation will be 5% of the total county revenue allocation.

Okoa Kenya team also wants the Senate to be involved in national government revenue allocation, to debate the Division of Revenue Bill, to debate all Bills and not only Bills concerning county governments.

It further wants the Senate to participate in approval of appointments to constitutional commissions and institution and not exclusively National Assembly.

The Okoa Kenya Draft Bill is further advancing for a creation of an efficient electoral body with simple but effective technology in voter registration, identification and transmission of results.

It also proposes that the commissioners of the electoral body be appointed by political parties based on their numerical strengths in Parliament.

Another key proposal of the Bill is that all matters pertaining land be exclusively dealt with by the National Land Commission (NLC) and that counties be involved in the matters as well as those touching on natural resources within their jurisdictions.

Okoa Kenya also wants the entrenchment of the separation of powers as a principle of values of governance and that all ethnic groups be well represented in public appointments based on the population in any given ethnic group.

Additional reporting by Kendagor Obadiah