The future of over 27 constituencies lie on parliamentarians who on this afternoon are gearing up to a crucial boundary review debate that will abolish the constituencies that don’t meet the population threshold.
This is through the boundary review that is mandated by the constitution that gives room for abolishment due to failing polpulation threshold that will see most of the communities lack representation.
According to reports, constituencies at risk are Voi, Wundanyi, Mwatate, and others who fell short of the required population count in the 2019 census, setting them on a collision course with constitutional requirements.
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This has led to a bill fronted by Thika Town MP Alice Ng’ang’a that targets Article 89 of the Constitution, seeking to protect constituencies facing potential merger or abolition during the impending boundary review.
These amendment aim to extend protection to these constituencies facing abolishment risk for a further minimum of eight years, allowing them time to bridge the population gap.
The urgency behind these proposals is heightened by revelations that up to 40 constituencies could face abolition in the forthcoming boundary review. This revelation stems from an analysis of the 2019 census results.
The census results exposed the failure of these constituencies to meet the population quotas mandated by the Constitution thus are at risk of being merged or abolished due to lack of threshold provided by the constitution.
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Reports estimate that the country could save up to Ksh 341 million annually and Ksh 1.363 billion in four years if the at-risk constituencies are abolished or merged.
However, issues have been raised with MPs claiming that if these constituencies are merged within one county, this could necessitate boundary adjustments in others, therefore risking inter-county grievances and conflicts.