The Okoa Kenya campaign launched by the Opposition in April last year might just have been revived after more than one year in waiting.
The Opposition leaders Raila Odinga, Moses Wetangula, Kalonzo Musyoka and Martha Karua, on Wednesday, announced that they had collected 1.4 Million signatures in support of the initiative that seeks to save the country from mismanagement and bad governance.
The signatures collected are above the constitution's requirement which demands at least 20 per cent of the registered voters in each of at least half of the 47 counties. The signatures were in excess of 400,000.
Led by Raila Odinga, the Opposition asserted that they would not relent from their efforts to save Kenya as the country was headed down the drains.
The CORD leader emphasised that the reforms offered by the Okoa Kenya drive would give solutions to problems plaguing the country.
“Okoa Kenya is not CORD. This is an instrument to save the country from going down the drain,” Odinga reaffirmed.
The signatures would now be formally presented to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre on November 4 for the verification.
After the confirmation, the Okoa Kenya initiative would then be tabled to the County Assemblies as a bill for debate, followed by deliberations in the National Assembly and the Senate before being presented to Kenyans to make the final decision.
One of the amendments proposed in the bill is that the minimum allocation of funds to counties be increased to 45 per cent from the current minimum of 15 per cent.
The Bill also proposes that not more than 15 per cent of public service appointments be from one ethnic community. If enacted into law, the Okoa Kenya drive would ensure effective ethnic representation in government institutions.
