Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party leader Raila Odinga on Saturday continued to drum up support for the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) in the Coast region where he held several rallies.
Mr. Odinga, speaking while meeting ODM legislators at the Wild Waters Centre in Mombasa, intimated that the BBI would increase the national cake which he said has since become too small.
He condemned the clash over the revenue allocation formula at the Senate saying the slightly over Ksh.316 billion that is meant to be distributed among counties is a mere drop in the ocean of the national budget.
He also blasted a section of political leaders he termed as being too greedy for amassing national resources for their own personal gain.
“Sasa wabunge wamekuwa na utata miezi mbili mfululizo hawawezi kubaliana juu ya kugawa pesa ya kuenda kwa counties, na hiyo pesa ambayo wanang’ang’anaia ni tone ya maji kwa bahari,” he said.
“Hatutaki kung’ang’ania juu ya ugavi ya hii keki, maanake keki ni kidogo, na wale ambao wanataka kula hiyo keki ni wengi. Tunataka kupika keki kubwa, keki ipanuliwe iwe kubwa ili kila mtu apate.”
The ODM party chief added: “Hii keki imekuwa kidogo na kuna wale walafi ambao wanakuja na kisu kubwa wanatakata pande kubwa na kutoroka nayo. Tunasema tunataka keki kubwa Wakenya wakule washibe.
Mr. Odinga further dismissed reports that the BBI was a plot to crown him as president in 2022 and make Uhuru Kenyatta the PM after his 10-year term in office.
He stated that the initiative goes above and beyond politics adding that it is majorly aimed at solving various ills facing the country at the moment.
“Wakenya hawataki samaki imepikwa, wanataka kuvua samaki wenyewe wapike wenyewe. Hiyo ndio sababu tuko na mambo ya BBI. BBI sio ya kupatia Raila awe rais wa Kenya, au Uhuru awe waziri mkuu,” he said.
“BBI is much deeper than that. Waziri mkuu atakuwa mbunge, anapata ,mshahara kwa bunge na anapewa allowance kama wengine kwa serikali. Tuko na shida na mambo ya one-third gender rule ya akina mama ambayo imeshinda bunge kufanya mpaka wanasema it is impossible. Tunawaambia BBI italeta suluhu kwa mambo ya kina mama. Kuna mambo mengi ambayo tunataka kubadilisha.”
