New vote zones a challenge, says Amollo

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Former Committee of Experts (CoE) member Otiende Amollo said the creation of 80 new constituencies will be a major challenge for the yet to be formed Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) August 30, 2011. FILE 

By CASPER WAITHAKA cwaithaka@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Wednesday, August 31  2011 at  14:26

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The creation of 80 new constituencies will be a major challenge for the yet to be formed Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

The Constitution stipulates that the constituencies must be in place before the next general elections scheduled for 2012.

Former Committee of Experts (CoE) member Otiende Amollo says that although the demarcation of constituencies was not the function of IEBC, it will have to tackle the issue as a matter of priority.

"By now the boundaries should have been established by the Interim Independent Electoral Commission. We should have been through with this issue of constituencies. The IEBC once in place will have to handle it as matter of urgency," he said Tuesday during a workshop for journalists organised by Internews in Nairobi.

Mr Amollo is a former member of the CoE, which drafted the new Kenyan Constitution.

He said pertinent issues that have to be resolved before the next general elections include: the gazettement of the new electoral areas, preparation of a new voter register and education and sensation of voters.

“There must be sufficient time to settle any disputes that may arise out of the new boundaries and voter registration to ensure they do not affect the elections,” he said.

He argued that it was not practical to hold the elections before December, 2012

“As members of the Committee of Experts, we never contemplated nor did we desire that elections be held in the second week of August. We expect that the elections will be held in the month of December 2012 as has been our tradition.” said Mr Amollo.

On Article 81 (b) that provides that not more than two thirds of members of public elective bodies shall be of the same gender, he said the solution would be designation some of the constituencies to have rotational leadership.

“The other option would be to amend the Constitution."