Suba South MP Caroli Omondi has accused ODM leader Raila Odinga of deliberately misrepresenting constitutional provisions to discredit the oversight role of legislators and the management of the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF).

Speaking in parliament on Tuesday, August 19, 2025, Omondi dismissed Raila’s remarks made during the ODM-Kenya Kwanza Parliamentary Group meeting that the Senate lacks the mandate to oversee county governments, arguing that Article 96 of the Constitution clearly spells out the Senate’s oversight role.

“A lot of misinformation and reading of the law upside down happened at our PG yesterday. The allegation that the Senate has no power to oversight the county government has now been debunked. Article 96 is clear on that,” Omondi told the House.

In his submission, Omondi criticised Raila’s interpretation by drawing comparisons with parliamentary systems, suggesting a misunderstanding of different governance models.

“But to make matters worse, the law is being misinterpreted by the Right Honourable Raila Odinga,” he stated.

“In a parliamentary system, the members of Parliament form the government, the Prime Minister and his ministers. The members of Parliament sit in the Executive, they design projects, they implement, they oversight, let him see what is happening in the House of Lords, in the House of Commons in England. What is happening there? Why can’t he say MPs cannot do what we are doing here? That is the wrong application of the law,” he elaborated.

NG-CDF management

He defended the existence of the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF), arguing that the national government has constitutional authority to establish such special funds to discharge its functions.

“Let me also debunk a few things on the NGCDF. The National Government has the power to establish special funds to discharge its functions. And under Article 6, the National Government can devolve its functions to the sub-counties which form a constituency,” he explained.

He noted that even if NG-CDF were scrapped, the funds would not be redirected to counties as suggested by Raila.

“In a presidential system such as the one we have, there is nothing wrong with the National Government having NG-CDF as its own fund, funded from the shareable revenue allocated to it. Even if we don’t have NG-CDF, the funds for NG-CDF will not be taken to counties,” he asserted.

Accountability

The Suba South MP further criticised what he referred to as more pressing issues of corruption, specifically raising concerns about the privatisation of sugar mills and the Auditor General’s report on eCitizen.

“Let this House today, let us look at what is happening at the eCitizen. How many pipes are leaking government revenue to private pockets?” he posed.

“There is state capture in this country. How many pipes are leaking government revenue to private pockets? Sugar mills were privatised, and workers are being fired. Let us know who took over sugar mills built by public funds without competition,” Omondi said.

He urged MPs to stop being distracted by misinterpretations of the law and instead direct their energy toward holding accountable those siphoning public resources.

“Let us take the war to them. If they want, we will give,” Omondi declared.