The Tana River Governor Hussein Dado yesterday called for national dialogue on devolution to end the "war of words" between governors and national assembly members.

Dado said the teething problems affecting the devolution process are part of the expected hurdles when changes are implemented. He said they will soon overcome the challenges.

"Change always comes with its fair share of resistance. But we will overcome this," he said while in Mombasa during the International Republican Institute conference on regional governance and best practices.

Dado hit out at the Association of Members of County Assembly chairman Robow Mohamed who said governors are not justified in asking for more money from the national government.

Mohamed at the weekend said the governors returned the money given to them after elections by the Transition Authority. He said each county had received between Sh300-400 million.

Yesterday, Dado, who represented Governors' Council chair Isaac Rutto at the conference, said not even a single cent was returned to the national government.

He said some of the monies given to them were for infrastructure, which requires designs, and other processes to develop. Once the fiscal year ended, the monies were returned to the revenue accounts.

He accused Mohamed and Nairobi minority leader Abdi Guyo of being sycophants. "If they are not informed, let them get the information from their counties. They are just sycophants. The age of sycophancy is long gone," Dado said.

He dismissed claims that governors are divided in the wake of Cord governors going on a trip to the US with coalition principal Raila Odinga and the Jubilee governors meeting Deputy President William Ruto in Nairobi.

Dado said the move by the two coalition will further strengthen the governors' unity of purpose. He also defended Rutto against backlash from his URP party members for defending devolution. "The chair does not speak as an individual. He speaks for us as governors. Shooting him is like shooting a messenger who only delivers messages," he said.

URP party members are angry with Rutto who said the Jubilee government is not committed to devolution. The URP party members interpreted this to mean Rutto is undermining DP Ruto, who is also the URP party leader.