Mixed reactions among residents as Garissa MCAs vote on BBI

A public meeting by the Garissa county assembly committee on Implementation and Legal Affairs was met with mixed reactions ahead of the vote Tuesday.

Those in support cite increment in allocation of resources while opponents said the issue of representation was not well captured.

Kenya Livestock Marketing Council chair Dubat Amey urged the residents to look at the bigger picture, saying the BBI report was a result of the handshake.

Amey who singled out resource allocation to counties as a plus told the residents not to be misled by naysayers who have termed the increment of resources from 15 per cent to 35 per cent as unrealistic.

“We are aware that those who have been beneficiaries of looting public funds are the ones opposing by misinforming the public. Our biggest undoing as a country is corruption,” he said.

The majority of those opposed to the document questioned how Nairobi county would get 12 constituencies while the entire Northeastern region got only one.

“Can anyone convince me why I should support the document with glaring disparities knowing very well that resources and representation go hand in hand?”Abdi Hassan, a resident, asked.

“We are here criticising the document and raising our reservation by unfortunately this is a predetermined process. Our leaders should stop taking us for a ride,” Hassan said.

Committee chair Abdirahman Mohamed said he had communicated to the clerk for a special meeting tomorrow where members will have the opportunity to deliberate on the Bill before voting for or against it.

“As a chair, I can confidently say that the mood among the MCAs is a yes for the Bill,” Mohamed said.

Masalani MCA Abubakar Shide said they will pass it, but there is nothing much to celebrate.

“We are doing this for the respect of our elder the late Senator Mohamed Yussuf Haji who hails from my ward. In all honesty, this is a document that has little to offer the Northeastern residents,” Shide said.

So far, 13 county assemblies have passed the BBI Bill with only Baringo opposing it.

Political pundits say the fact that Garissa Governor Ali Korane was the Northeastern regional coordinator and Haji the chair of the BBI team, the three counties will most likely pass the bill.

Edited by Kiilu Damaris