Garissa and Wajir have made me proud- Raila Odinga

Raila Odinga hailed Garissa and Wajir Counties for taking advantage of devolution and rising from marginalization.(Courtesy)

NAIROBI—National Super Alliance (NASA) leader Raila Amolo Odinga termed corruption as a major threat to devolution while addressing delegates at the devolution conference that is ongoing in Kakamega County.

Reading from a tablet, the veteran opposition leader revealed two counties in the semi-arid North Eastern region that have made him proud.

”Devolution has proven that neither region nor geography is destiny. Nations and regions are poor or rich not because of their Geography or their past but because of their ability and inability to make the best of what they have. We now have tarmac roads and airports in long neglected parts of Kenya. Hall stalls have sprouted in Wajir and Garissa. Parts of North Eastern have access to water,” Odinga noted.

Raila hailed Garissa and Wajir Counties stating that devolution is benefiting previously marginalized areas.

Raila told the Devolution Conference on Wednesday that Kenya should now adopt three tiers of government, a proposal that was shelved before the 2010 referendum.

“As a matter of lasting solution to the problem posed by sizes of devolved units, we need to bite the bullet and revisit the structure of devolution,” Raila said.

He called upon the national and county governments to explore ways of avoiding conflict and duplication when implementing the Big Four Agenda (affordable housing, health care, manufacturing and food security) because some of the pillars fell under devolution.