A key ally of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has hinted that Kenya may soon be headed for a national referendum, citing an ongoing parliamentary process that could culminate in a constitutional amendment.

Suba North MP Millie Odhiambo revealed that there is heightened political activity behind the scenes, with key players who are pushing for constitutional reforms scheduling meetings with her ODM leader Raila.

However, she noted that Raila’s diary is fully booked, making him currently unavailable for consultations, further delaying the referendum talks.

While she did not disclose the specific nature of the proposed amendments, sources close to the legislative process suggest that issues on governance structure, devolution, and electoral reforms could be on the table.

Millie Odhiambo’s remarks appear to explain why Parliament acted at a bottleneck speed to vet and approve the incoming Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) members. The veteran politician said that MPs from across the political divide are yearning to have a meeting with Raila over the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF), which he has been pushing the legislators to hand over to the counties.

Raila told off MPs pushing to have the NG-CDF entrenched in the constitution through public participation conducted last month in the constituencies, calling it a vain effort since the legal way would be through a referendum.

“Do all the public participation you want. Ultimately, you must go to a referendum. In the referendum, you will lose. It’s not that we don’t want bursaries, but they should be disbursed by the county governments,” Raila said.

Prioritising development

The Suba North MP’s sentiments indicate that MPs intend to pile pressure on Raila to drop calls for a referendum to embed the kitty in the constitution. Odhiambo maintained that CDF is extremely popular among Kenyans in the rural areas adding that it is working fund that has help legislators to meet the needs of the people.

“Once we have that discussion with our party leader, if we agree to go forward, I would actually encourage a referendum on NGCDF, so that we hear from Kenyans. Let it be subjected to a public referendum. A lot of Kenyans know what NGCDF does,” she added.

Even as Kenyans wait to have the way forward on the implementation of NGCDF, frustrated female MPs hit out at the government for what they termed as inequality in the disbursement of public resources in their constituencies

First-time MP Suzzane Ndunge of Makueni emotionally narrated how she was pushed to the verge of resigning, after being denied money to conduct development projects in her constituency despite providing data and requisite information in the proposals.

“I almost resigned after six months. I was wondering what kind of problems did I get myself into, especially with my background in development. I was stuck,” Ndunge said in a forum between Kenya Women Parliamentarians Association (KEWOPA) and IDinsight a research firm and data analysts.

Naivasha MP Jane Kihara said that the government has been getting its priorities wrong even with the availability of data on areas and sectors that require urgent attention.

The MP said that politicians allied to the broad-based government are getting a bigger share of the public resources while those that pulled out of the Kenya Kwanza alliance are being side-lined.

She cited the Women Enterprise Fund, which she said was swallowed by the Hustler Fund established for political expediency.

Turbo MP Janet Sitienei said that there should be separation of roles to offload the legislators some of the policy-making responsibilities outside their constitutional roles of oversight, representation and legislation.

However, Odhiambo defended the broad-based government saying that every government that is elected comes with its own priorities based on what it intends to deliver to citizens.

 “I’m not in Kenya Kwanza, though we have a loose working arrangement with the KK but they had their manifesto which talked about bottom-up development agenda and that has informed the projects that have been initiated,” she said.

IDinsight director Nyawira Gitahi said that Kenya had entered a critical era of digital governance that requires very timely and informed legislation that connects public priorities with national policy.

“Strong leadership is vital for this process. Durable reforms that will be sustainable, not only now, but ensuring that whatever processes we put in place can stand the test of time,” Gitahi said.