South Mugirango MP Silvanus Osoro has expressed dissatisfaction with the proposal by Raila Odinga that Members of County Assembly (MCAs) should be left solely responsible for overseeing governors.

Speaking in the National Assembly on Tuesday, August 19, 2025, Osoro said it was unrealistic to expect MCAs, whose earnings remain relatively low, to effectively hold governors accountable for billions of shillings allocated to counties. He argued that governors who manage budgets of up to KSh 13 billion cannot be adequately checked by MCAs whose allowances are minimal.

The legislator claimed that in many cases, MCAs are easily influenced by governors, sometimes even receiving as little as KSh 3,000 to follow their lead. According to him, such circumstances compromise the independence and effectiveness of county assemblies, raising concerns about the credibility of oversight at the devolved level.

“You cannot say that you want county assembly members to be left with the responsibility of managing governors. A governor that controls Ksh13 billion cannot be overseen by an MCA. These MCAs are even given Ksh3000 by governors to follow them,” Osoro stated.

Osoro now wants Article 191 of the Constitution to continue being enacted as it has been and allow senators to continue with their oversight role and to continue putting county heads on their toes.

He also told of the prime minister that even the devolution he is trying to protect is not working since the situation on the ground is completely different, adding on that the devolution that was envisaged by the framers of the constitution is not the one being felt on the ground.

Raila’s demands

This comes after Raila Odinga, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader, consistently criticised the Senate’s practice of summoning governors to appear before its committees, arguing that it undermines devolution and disrupts county operations.

Speaking at the 2025 Devolution Conference in Homa Bay on August 14, 2025, he emphasised that oversight of county governments is the constitutional mandate of county assemblies, not the Senate.

He described the summons as a waste of time and resources.