The government has increased the equitable share of revenue to counties with nearly KSh30 billion compared to the last financial year.

President William Ruto said the unprecedented increase from last year’s KSh387.4 billion to KSh415 billion will go a long way in strengthening devolution.

The President said the County Allocation of Revenue Act, 2025, which he assented to earlier on Wednesday, distributes the equitable share among the 47 counties in strict adherence to the revenue-sharing formula set out in Article 217 of the Constitution.

He pointed out that this is the first allocation to apply the Fourth Determination of the Basis for Division of Revenue, which was approved by Parliament this year.

“This is not just more money; it is a stronger foundation for counties to deliver, develop, and transform lives,” he said.

Speaking during the 9th Devolution Conference held in Homa Bay County, President Ruto reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to supporting the devolved units.

He said despite operating within a tight fiscal space, the government has honoured its commitment to timely disbursements, clearing all balances owed to counties for the just-ended financial year.

“This ensures that counties have the fiscal capacity, institutional infrastructure, and human resources necessary to deliver on their expanded mandates effectively,” he said.

The President pointed out that in just 12 years since the inception of devolution, the government has transferred a total of KSh4 trillion to counties.

“Every corner of Kenya now has a functional county government closer to the people than ever before,” he said.

The President said the National Government has transferred the 14 outstanding devolved functions to counties, aligning them with the requisite funding.

“This milestone has eliminated decades-old ambiguities that hampered service delivery and fuelled inter-governmental disputes,” he said.

He explained that full transfer of devolved functions will empower county governments to design and implement programmes that respond directly to local needs.

The President announced that the National Government has gazetted immovable assets, including land and buildings, for transfer to and ownership of the counties.

President Ruto said he had assented to the County Public Finance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023, which amends the Public Finance Management Act to provide for the establishment of a County Assembly Fund in each county.

He said the new law consolidates the place of county assemblies while clearly defining the respective responsibilities of both National and county governments.

“It is not just a legal act, it is a statement of intent that counties must have the means, the mandate, and the clarity to serve our people effectively,” he said.

He pointed out that the government is working with counties to build one bankable, high-impact value chain in every county.

“This is about turning local potential into jobs, incomes, and exports,” the President explained.

However, the President noted that corruption remains the greatest threat to the full realisation of the gains of devolution.

He urged all stakeholders involved in the fight against the vice to intensify their efforts, stressing that the war against corruption demands collective resolve and sustained action.

He explained that the National Government is adopting technology to curb corruption, citing the digitisation of services through the e-Citizen platform.

This has reduced wastage, closed revenue leakages, and boosted collections while making transactions more transparent and accountable, he explained.

“Our greatest challenge is not the inadequacy of resources, but how we utilise what we have,” he said.

The President also called out the Legislature for demanding money from members of the Executive who appear before the Houses for accountability.

“It should not be possible for a committee of Parliament to demand to be paid to write reports or look the other way,” he said.

The President also asked the judiciary not to be a haven for the corrupt, citing practices such as anticipatory bail which, he said, “is a Kenyan invention” and takes the country backwards.

On his part, Council of Governors Chair and Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi commended the National Government for disbursing county funds on time.

“For the three years that you have been in charge, at least the last shilling was released to the County Revenue Funds account by midnight on 30th June. We don’t take that for granted. It was not always the case,” he said.

The Council of Governors asked county chiefs to ensure resources are distributed equitably within the counties.

He noted that since the advent of devolution there has been improved service delivery at the grassroots, citing healthcare services.

Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga and Senate Speaker Amason Kingi, among others, also spoke.

By Anderson Ojwang
 
The Luo community could be walking into an interesting time in the future where age-old rivalries and mistrust have been buried, and a rebirth of the community’s unity is in place.
 
The negative tags labelled against opponents viewed to read from different political scripts have now been buried, and the ones previously seen as ‘enemies’ can share the table and chart the destiny of the community together.
 
The ghost of the 1966 Limuru Conference that split the Luo community into two political blocs, pitting the then Vice President Jaramogi Oginga Odinga against then KANU Secretary Tom Joseph Mboya, has finally been laid to rest.
 
In Odinga’s camp were Dennis Akumu, Achieng Oneko, Bildad Kaggia, Munyua Waiyaki, among others.
 
Odinga had political control of mainly Central Nyanza, which included the present Kisumu and Siaya counties.
 
Mboya drew his support base from Southern Nyanza, mainly Homa Bay and Migori counties, where he checkmated Odinga’s influence.
 
In Mboya’s camp was Karachuonyo MP Omolo Agar, who was very instrumental at the Limuru Conference in charting a new political dispensation for the party.
 
Elija Omollo Agar was born in 1929 in Karachuonyo, Southern Nyanza. An Indian-trained economist, he was Kenyatta’s point man in the South Nyanza region. He was the first MP to represent Karachuonyo Constituency.
 
Both leaders introduced education airlifts, with Mboya offering scholarships to the USA. Among the beneficiaries were Barack Hussein Obama Snr, the father of former USA President Barack Obama, Nobel Prize award winner the late Prof Wangari Maathai, among others.
 
Odinga offered scholarships to the East, mainly Russia, which enabled several Kenyans to pursue their education.
 
The rivalry between Mboya and Odinga split the community into two blocs and contributed to the marginalisation of the community after the assassination of Mboya in July 1969.
 
After Mboya’s death, Odinga assumed full control of Luo leadership to date, but most of Mboya’s allies were never integrated into his fold and were often treated with suspicion.
 
During the conference, Odinga and his team – Bildad Kaggia, Munyua Waiyaki, Dennis Akumu – considered the party’s left wing/radicals at the time, called for a break in the conference due to the ambush by Mboya with a different election agenda to discuss changes to the KANU constitution.
 
Mboya and Agar proposed the creation of eight Vice Presidents, one per province. According to their plan, Omollo Agar was to support Lawrence Sagini from Kisii to become the KANU Vice President for Nyanza, edging Jaramogi out.
 
As soon as Odinga and his team left to consult, Mboya rallied his troops and, with a pre-planned list, slotted Vice Presidents in each province.
 
After the conference, Agar was involved in a road accident that confined him to a wheelchair.
 
The last time Omollo Agar was seen in public was when he was wheeled to Ofafa Memorial Hall in Kisumu to mourn Argwings Kodhek, who had died in a suspicious car accident in Nairobi in 1968.
 
Internal Security and Administration Permanent Secretary Dr Raymond Omollo is the great-grandson of Omollo Agar, while the former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, through his Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), has remained the main determinant of the community’s politics.
 
The soft-spoken Omollo, despite having been appointed by President William Ruto into his administration, has never antagonised Raila and has become one of the key pillars in the broad-based government.
 
Omollo is currently acceptable in the Odinga family and the wider ODM spectrum, where leaders and party supporters easily identify with him and his projects.
 
During the burial of Mama Phoebe Asiyo in Karachuonyo, Raila called for the honouring of the heroes, and among them were Omolo Agar, Ojijo Oteko, Paul Mboya, Gogo Ochok, among others.
 
Omollo enjoys a cordial relationship with the Odingas, including Siaya Senator Dr Oburu Oginga, who views his approach as accommodative and not antagonistic.
 
MPs from Nyanza led by Sam Atandi, Opondo Kaluma, Jared Okello, Phelix Odiwuor alias Jalang’o, among others, have been supportive of Omollo and defended him from critics.
 
Atandi recently said, “The government is only bad if you are not part of it. If you are outside, you don’t have anybody who is representing your interest in that government, that government does not talk to you, that government is bad. But the moment you have your people inside – the way John Mbadi, Raymond Omollo, my brother Opiyo Wandayi – the government cannot be bad, the government now is good.”
 
Atandi said they would rally behind the now former ODM members who joined the government so that they can deliver their mandate.
 
“The way Baba said he has sent experts into the executive, we want to give you the support so that you can show the expertise you can produce. I trust the leadership of Raila Odinga and his wisdom for allowing our two brothers, John Mbadi and Opiyo Wandayi, to join Cabinet. We are going to rally behind them,” he said.
 
Another MP noted that it will now be easier to rectify any mistakes and have the President address their issues.
 
“If one of us is in government, when there is a mistake, we just call him to tell the President to rectify,” he said.
 
Jalang’o wrote on his Facebook page,
 
“Salute to a True Public Servant – PS Raymond Omollo
Just had the pleasure of catching a moment with PS Raymond Omollo—a leader whose impact speaks louder than any title.
From strengthening national security to empowering communities, his commitment to service is unmatched. What stands out most is his humility, clarity of purpose, and unwavering dedication to making Kenya safer and stronger.
This selfie may be simple, but the respect I have for his work runs deep. Thank you, PS Omollo, for leading with integrity and vision.”
 

By Anderson Ojwang

The November by-elections recently announced by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) present the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) with another moment to guillotine the fattened aspirants for the parliamentary seats during the party’s primaries.

For over two decades, and in successive general elections and by-elections, various aspirants for the parliamentary, gubernatorial, senatorial, and county assembly seats have been butchered at the altar of party’s nominations.

Several bright, budding political careers have been brought to nought, while career civil servants, professionals, and business persons with a dream of offering leadership in politics have stayed away, fearing the butcher’s knife and its consequences.

ODM nominations have been a theatre of political deception, manipulation, and hoodwinking of the aspirants of a ‘free and fair’ nomination, only to end up guillotined after spending tens of millions on the campaigns.

In the last general elections, the party took the aspirants for a ride by promising a free and fair nomination, invited them to pay nomination fees, only to end up with boardroom decisions where the majority of MPs were given direct tickets, while gubernatorial and senatorial candidates were not subjected to nominations.

The injustices by the party over nominations have finally caught up with it and were aptly captured by the Secretary General, Edwin Sifuna, during a recent TV interview when he said that the excitement about ODM party ticket was on a downward spiral.

‘With the expected by-elections in the country, most aspirants are shying away from using the ODM ticket as they fear destroying their political careers. They have instead opted for other parties or to contest as independent candidates,’ he said.

Already, signs of the party’s old habits resurfacing in the by-elections in Kasipul and Ugunja constituencies have emerged, with the party National Chairperson, Gladys Wanga, expressing her support for the son of slain Kasipul MP Charles Ongondo Were, Mr Boyd Were.

In Ugunja Constituency, Energy Cabinet Secretary and a former Chairperson of ODM Political Affairs, Mr Opiyo Wandayi, is favouring the election of his CDF Manager, Moses Omondi.

In Kasipul Constituency, Wanga has directed employees at the county to support and campaign for Boyd, and this explains why the Chief Officer for Governance, Mr Isaack Ongiri, was, at the weekend, holding a series of meetings to drum up support for the aspirant.

Equally, Mr Joash Aloo, a CEC at the county who had expressed interest in the seat and had embarked on engaging with the electorate, has stopped his political activities after he was prevailed upon by the Governor.

Attempts by the Governor to prevail over her deputy, Oyugi Magwanga, to support Boyd failed to yield fruit after the latter declined and called for a free and fair nomination to allow the electorate to elect a leader of their choice.

Already, 17 aspirants have shown interest in the vacant seat, and they include Samwel Owida, Philip Aroko, Victor Mbaka, Boyd Were, Rateng Otiende, Tom Sipul, Ajoh Mbuta, Ken Okoth Jam, Joash Aloo, Swaleh Omondi, Okindo Majiwa, Colins Otieno, Mary Askon, Newton Ogada, Edward Oloo Otula, Allan Odera, and Robert Money Mabior.

A recent night meeting between Wanga and Magwanga over a possible candidate to succeed Were ended in a stalemate.

Wanga and her team tried to prevail over Magwanga to support Ongondo’s son, Boyd Were, but the latter was reluctant and did not commit to the proposal.

On the table, sources told Western Insight, that Wanga asked Magwanga to support Boyd, and in return, she would support his candidature for the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Homa Bay County Chairperson seat.

Magwanga confirmed the visit, saying they discussed various issues and neither denied nor confirmed whether he was approached to support the son of his political nemesis and would, in return, get the county ODM Chair seat.

‘The Governor visited me last night and we discussed several issues. You are free to speculate whatever we discussed. I have been having several visitors to my home and everyone is welcome,’ he said.

Recently, a section of MPs from Nyanza led by Wanga, trying to have Boyd get direct nomination, hit a snag and split the party.

But the defiant Wanga and other leaders recently presented Mr Boyd at a local church and asked the residents to support his candidature to inherit his father’s seat.

Wanga, Homa Bay Town MP Opondo Kaluma, Senator Moses Kajwang, Minority Whip Millie Odhiambo, and Roza Buyu (Kisumu West) said late Were’s son was the best-suited family member to replace his father as Kasipul Member of Parliament.

In Ugunja, several aspirants have expressed interest in the seat and hope to go through ODM nominations, while others will seek to contest on different parties.

Those who have already expressed interest in the seat include Chris Budo, Dr Orodi Odhiambo, Benson Obol, Joseph Otieno Aluru, Moses Omondi, Eng Fred Z.B. Owino, Fredrick Ochiel, Fredrick O. Dor, Wycliff Wendo, Fredrick Otieno, Sam Okoyo, and M.J. Okumu.

In Ugunja, Siaya Governor James Orengo is also said to favour one of the aspirants, and the electorate are likely to finally witness the long-simmering Orengo-Wandayi supremacy battle.

For those gunning for the ODM ticket, the clock may be ticking so fast and they could have no other choice but to go through the butcher’s knife.

Will the Raila Odinga finally live to the ideals of democracy to allow the electorate to elect a leader of their choice or will it be another charade and wild goose chase in the pursuit of the illusive party ticket?