Uproar over list of new constituencies

By Alex Ndegwa
A leaked proposal for the distribution of 80 new constituencies by the Interim Independent Boundaries Commission (IIBRC) has kicked up a storm with furious MPs accusing the team of attempted gerrymandering.
Wednesday MPs from Central and Coast accused the Interim Independent Boundaries Review Commission (IIBRC) and its chairman Andrew Ligale of bias in allocating the new seats to promote a hidden political agenda.
According to documents obtained by The Standard, Rift Valley will have the lion’s share, with 26 new constituencies carved out of the existing 49 for a total of 76.
Nairobi will then get nine new constituencies, the same as Nyanza and Western with nine each for a total of 17, 33 and 41 constituencies respectively.
Eastern will have seven additional constituencies from the current 36 for a total of 43 constituencies.
Next will be North Eastern, which IIBRC proposes to allocate six new constituencies for a total 17 up from the current 11 electoral units.
Coast and Central provinces were to be allocated four constituencies each up from 25 and 29 to make a total of 29 and 33 constituencies.
Some MPs are now furious that the IIBRC has trashed the deal struck by lawmakers at the Naivasha PSC retreat on Constitution Review on the sharing out of the additional 80 constituencies, which were agreed upon as part of reforms to address skewed representation.
Honoured deal
During the Naivasha retreat for the new Constitution, MPs recommended that Rift Valley be allocated 26 new constituencies, Nyanza (10), Nairobi and Eastern nine each, Central and Western seven each and lastly Coast and North Eastern six each.
Central, Coast and Eastern MPs have raised a red flag wondering why the regions had been shortchanged while the Ligale commission either honoured the deal for others or added them more.
The MPs questioned the motivation behind allocating Western, Ligale’s home turf, two more constituencies than the agreed share of seven.
Following the revelation on the decision by the IIBRC, said to come from credible sources at the commission, the dissatisfied MPs went into crisis meetings last evening to decide the way forward.
Central Kenya MPs met at County Hall at a meeting attended also by Cabinet ministers from the region.
Earlier Coast MPs led by Assistant Minister Kazungu Kambi, MPs Danson Mungatana (Garsen) and Fondo Gunda (Bahari) addressed a news conference at Parliament Buildings yesterday and denounced the IIBRC for allocating the region four instead of eight new constituencies.
Mungatana alleged a plot by the Ligale-led commission to exploit a loophole in the Act to gazette the distribution of the new constituencies without tabling the report in Parliament to escape MPs’ scrutiny.
The MP said if the Ligale team does not rescind the decision they would move to court to block implementation of the report’s recommendations or ask Parliament to trash the work of the commission.
Mungatana claimed the IIBRC, whose tenure lapses at the end of this month, was in a hurry to gazette the new constituencies for political bidding.
He said the Ligale team should suspend all pending business, which should be taken up by its successor, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.
"This kind of doing things in a hurry is what has brought problems for this country," Mungatana said.
Shortly after the MP said not only Coast had been given a raw deal but some other regions, too, Central Kenya MPs retreated into a closed-door meeting to deliberate on the developments.
"It is unfortunate that the Ligale commission has decided to play politics with such an important mandate. One wonders why they chose to allocate the constituencies based on provinces instead of the counties outlined in the new Constitution," said Kigumo MP Jamleck Kamau, who is also one of PNU’s vice chairmen.
IIBRC used a population quota of 133,138, derived after dividing the country’s population of 36 million over 290 constituencies.
But Kamau questioned why the population quota was applied uniformly without regard to population density. The distribution of the additional constituencies is important to political players with eyes on 2012 General Election because it influences control of the National Assembly by the winning party.
The number of MPs on the side of the winning presidential candidate is important under the new Constitution because the next Parliament will play a key role in governance, including vetting key public appointments such as Cabinet Secretaries.
The latest development is likely to reignite fresh wars between the coalition partners given the issue of IIBRC had previously caused a rift in Government.
In September, a row broke out in Government as Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Justice Minister Mutula Kilonzo clashed over the IIBRC, whose term expires on November 27.
According to documents obtained by The Standard, Mutula wrote to Ligale reminding him that, whatever his team would not have done by the end of its constitutional mandate on November 27, would be taken up by the new body, which is yet to be established.
"Upon the end of your mandate your work will be taken over by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, which will carry it forward," added Mutula, in a letter addressed to Ligale on August 31.
"Please be advised that the powers of delimitation and publication of boundaries of constituencies and wards under Article 89 of the new Constitution relate to your successor body and not to you," added Mutula in the letter.
Mutula further advised Ligale and his team to start packing up their bags, in preparation for winding up the commission.
Prepare for exit
"In my letter I advised strongly that the commission should refrain from any major undertaking and new activities, including recruitment of new staff, procurement of additional equipment, and financial commitments that do not relate to the preparation and completion of the report and winding up of the commission," adds Mutula.
The PM was incensed by Mutula’s remarks, and together with Ligale, protested over the move by Mutula in letters they both wrote on September 3.
Ligale told Mutula that the new Constitution empowers his commission to carry out its functions until the end of its constitutional mandate on November 27.
"I wish to confirm that we have revised our work plan so as to deliver on our mandate as spelt out in the Constitution, more specifically under section 27 of the sixth schedule," says Ligale in his letter to Mutula.
On the other hand, Raila in a four-page response to Mutula, disagreed with the Justice minister saying the new Constitution empowers the commission to carry out its mandate until its term expires.