Sunday, January 15, 2012

Central, Eastern MPs rubbish review as R. Valley celebrates



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By EMEKA-MAYAK GEKARA gmayaka@ke.nationmedia.com And NJERI RUGENE nrugene@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Saturday, January 14  2012 at  22:30
Politicians from Central and upper Eastern have cried foul over the proposed boundaries review, arguing that it was skewed against the region even as their counterparts from Rift Valley backed the suggested constituencies.
If the IEBC report is adopted, the five Central counties will get only five additional constituencies.
The concern is that no new constituency was created in the populous Nyeri, Murang’a and Kirinyaga counties.
The delimitation of constituencies is a touchy issue as it directly affects equity in representation and political numbers, especially for MPs in a General Election.
The 2008 post-election violence was partly blamed on unequal representation.
To prevent poll-related tensions, the new Constitution calls for creation of more constituencies as recommended by the Kriegler team that interrogated the causes of the 2008 violence.
MPs from Central led by Mathira MP Ephraim Maina, chairman of the Central Kenya Parliamentary Group Kabando wa Kabando (Mukurweini), Nemesyus Warugongo (Kieni), Muturi Mwangi (Kiharu) and Kinangop’s David Ngugi have accused the IEBC of deliberately short-changing the region.
“The (IEBC) ignored people’s proposals. We have been unjustly treated for sure. This injustice was perpetrated across the country but particularly in Central Kenya,” said Mr Maina.
North Horr MP Chachu Ganya and his Wajir South counterpart Mohamud Sirat also accused the commission of giving them a raw deal.
North Horr constituency, which is the size of Western Province, was not split. Mr Sirat has alleged the boundaries review worked in favour of “ODM-friendly” constituencies in the area.
However, politicians from Rift Valley, which stands to get 26 new constituencies, have celebrated the review.
“A majority of Kenyans are happy with the new electoral units, and I ask leaders to stop creating tension and crisis where there is none,” said Eldoret North MP William Ruto.

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