Kenyans will go for a referendum despite certain heightened schemes to scuttle it, Cord leader Raila Odinga said on Friday.
Mr Odinga said that the referendum was a must for Kenyans as part of a process to improve their livelihood.
“Our Committee of Experts are currently drafting the Bill upon which Kenyans will cast their vote. Reports that people have lost interest in the push for the plebiscite are misplaced and unfounded,” the former Prime Minister said during a fundraiser at Botore school in Bonchari Constituency, Kisii County.
He said the Okoa Kenya and Pesa Mashinani initiatives “were two different sides of the same coin. People who are saying we have lost steam do not understand the dynamics of issues like this”.
“We need 45 per cent of the total revenue in our counties to improve infrastructure like roads. Devolution is the only key to faster development in Kenya,” said Mr Odinga.
‘LOST DIRECTION’
However, President Uhuru Kenyatta has dismissed Cord’s Okoa Kenya referendum campaign as a non-starter and asked the public to ignore it.
“There is nothing they are offering. The campaign has lost direction. Do not give it a thought or attention,’’ the President told a public rally at the Karisa Maitha Stadium in Kilifi town on Friday.
He said the country was not ready to amend the Constitution and his government has focused on implementing the document.
-nation.co.ke
