Plot to block 80 new constituencies

By Martin Mutua

The tug-of-war in Parliament over distribution of 80 new constituencies set out by the Constitution is back with central Kenya MPs vowing to block the Ligale Report, which delineated them.

They also insist they will fight for the country to go into the General Election with the current 210 constituencies arguing all the new Constitution sets is a maximum of 290 electoral areas.

The latest storm is now threatening the constitution of the crucial Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), which will map out the 80 new constituencies and manage the elections. Early June Parliament sat through to midnight, approved the 80 new electoral areas to taking the total to 290, during which a Motion by Ndaragwa MP Jeremiah Kioni to introduce amendments whose intention were to water down and eventually strike out Ligale Report were rejected.

The latest round of controversy comes after Parliament approved the names of seven persons to constitute the selection panel that will pick the nine commissioners of the yet-to- be formed IEBC.

Members of the panel sat on Thursday for their first time and elected former Committee of Experts chief executive Ekuru Aukot as their chairman.

The panel is now expected to advertise positions for those interested in IEBC, to apply and undergo vetting, get parliamentary approval before being named to the commission.

The move by MPs has sparked fresh controversy, with several MPs daring their counterparts from central Kenya to go ahead with their threat, vowing they would teach them a political lesson.

Repeat count

The Party of National Unity MPs either from Mt Kenya region or perceived to have strong roots there despite representing constituencies outside the province, meet this morning at Co-operative College, Karen, to plot how to bring down the Ligale Report. Among those expected to attend are Cabinet ministers Uhuru Kenyatta, Kiraitu Murungi, George Saitoti, and Amos Kimunya. Central MPs led by their Parliamentary Group chairman, Ephraim Maina, who is the Mathira MP, will join them.

The central Kenya MPs are still insisting that all factors considered, population ratio should determine allocation of the new constituencies.

Mr Maina on Thursday confirmed that MPs from the region were opposed to the report, and that they would do everything to block it from being used by the yet to be formed IEBC.

According to the Ligale Report, the constituencies are supposed to be shared as follows: Coast Province 26, North Eastern 18, Eastern Province 44, Central Province 33, Rift Valley 74, Western 33, Nyanza 42 and Nairobi 17.

"That report is illegal as it does not follow the new Constitution. For instance Kisumu, Mombasa and Nakuru being cities were regarded as rural areas," he added.

Maina told The Standard that the Planning Minister Wycliffe Oparanya was on record as saying census from North-Eastern and Turkana were bloated and that there was going to be a repeat count, and argued that despite this anomaly, the Ligale team still went with this data in distributing the new electoral areas.

"Some constituencies were too small but ended up being split, while large ones were left intact," complained Maina. He said his colleagues would push for, if need be, the next General Election to be carried out using the current constituencies.

"The Constitution says the country is to have a maximum of 290 constituencies. It is not a must that they must be 290 because even the current 210 are within that threshold," said Maina.

When asked whether that would not be violating the Constitution, which has increased the current constituencies, Maina replied that was not the case. He went on to justify his group’s demands saying: "In the event this Parliament does not pass all the required laws and someone goes to court it could be dissolved and we will go to the polls when the 80 new constituencies would not have been created."

Government Chief Whip Jakoyo Midiwo, who is from the Orange Democratic Movement, said the issue was a foregone conclusion since Parliament had dealt with it and the President appended his signature on the Bill, making it law.

"If they dare carry out their threat, this would re-energise the rest of Kenyans against them and for me it would be like a birthday present," he added.

Midiwo argued it would be a grave mistake on their part if they attempted to reopen what Parliament had dealt with because of "some imaginary fear". Livestock Assistant Minister, Aden Duale, who is from ODM dared central Kenya MPs to make good their threat saying the report had been dealt with by Parliament and the chapter closed.

"They attempted to block the report first at the Government Printer, but they failed and they then came to the floor of the House and we defeated them and MPs passed it into law, and it was assented to by President," he added.

Duale said majority of MPs from all the other regions supported the report except Central MPs and vowed nothing would change their minds.

Duale, who is an ally of suspended Higher Education minister, William Ruto, said it would a waste of time if Central MPs attempt to reopen the matter.

Shot down

Mosop MP David Koech, Fred Kapondi (Mt Elgon) and Moses Lessonet (Eldama Ravine) said the matter had been concluded.

The process of creating the new constituencies ran into strong political headwinds, last November when it was jolted by a restraining court order, and when Government shot down the gazettement of the electoral regions.

Parliament also erupted in acrimonious debate over an alleged conspiracy to block the creation of the new political units as a frustrated and now defunct Interim Independent Boundaries Review Commission (IIBRC) released to the public the draft list it had given the Government Printer for publication. At the time the Head of Civil Service Mr Francis Muthaura stopped officers at the Government Press from releasing the Kenya Gazette notice on the new electoral areas, although Government Printer Andrew Rukaria, denied receiving orders either from him or the Office of the President.

The bone of contention at the time and now was a dispute over population density of the constituencies as compared to geographical expanse and other features used in the delimitation.

Former Vihiga MP Andrew Ligale chaired IIBRC. Though his commission’s mandate was lapsing he ingrained the proposed constituencies in the minds of Kenyans by publishing them even as some top politicians argued he should close shop and let the new body succeeding his take over.

Following an amendment by Mandera Central MP Abdikadir Mohammed during the June debate, Parliament gave IEBC the mandate to use the Ligale Report as primary reference material, and also use as secondary reference material a report of the parliamentary committee of the former boundaries commission.