ODM leader Raila Odinga yesterday defended leaders affiliated to his party serving in President William Ruto’s government.

Speaking in Mombasa during the opening of the 42nd Annual Seminar of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK), Raila urged Kenyans to be patient and allow the “ODM experts donated to government” to roll out reforms.

“You will begin to see meaningful change when Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi presents his first budget next month,” Raila said.

“One of the immediate and tangible changes will be to the controversial Housing Levy. It will be restructured into an investment scheme so that if you don’t get a house, you can get your money back.”

Raila emphasised that the ODM leaders only joined the government in July last year, and are now preparing their first full budget.

“It’s not instant coffee, you don’t just brew and drink. It takes time. Let Mr Mbadi present his budget, and you’ll see the difference,” he told the accountants.

The former Prime Minister who was the Chief Guest at the event was responding to concerns by ICPAK members why the promises by the ODM team were yet to be realised.

On the issue of resource distribution, Raila reiterated his long-standing position that the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) should be scrapped, arguing that such funds should be redirected to county governments.

“There’s no reason why the national government should be building roads in counties when governors lack the resources to fix basic infrastructure,” he said.

“We created agencies like KeNHA, KURA, and KeRRA to cut bureaucracy back when I was Roads Minister. But today, under devolution, many of those roles should be taken over by county governments,” said Raila.