Kenyan governors could be allowed to extend their office term to 2020 if a new recommendation from the powerful Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) is implemented into law.
The CRA has called for the amendment of the Constitution to allow governors to serve a single term of eight years.
CRA Chairman Micah Cheserem has argued that the proposal will be good for devolution as it will eliminate disruption of county operations that is currently being witnessed as governors campaign for their re-election.
“Governors should serve for a continuous term of eight years and leave office peacefully to prevent them from the pressure of competing with their opponents in General Elections,” Cheserem stated during a courtesy call at Homa Bay Governor Cyprian Awiti’s office.
The CRA Chair further called on legislators to amend the Constitution in line with the proposal, adding that it would help incumbents to complete their development projects.
“Many Governors are under pressure to campaign in order to retain their seats. But that pressure would not be there if they had a single term of eight years,” the high-ranking government official stated.
At the same time, the CRA head hit out at Members of Parliament accusing them of undermining devolution.
He stated that MPs have the power to support devolution of resources from the National Government to the counties but claimed that they had failed to do so.
On the part of senators, Cheserem accused them of fighting Governors with the sole aim of unseating them, adding that the fights were impacting negatively on the citizens.
CRA is an independent Commission set up under Article 215 of the Constitution of Kenya to oversee the distribution of revenue between the National and the County Governments.
