Populous counties in the country are set to get additional constituencies if proposals contained in the recently launched Buiding Bridges Initiative (BBI) report are passed.
The BBI report that was officially launched at Bomas of Kenya on October 26 by President Uhuru Kenyatta and his handshake partner Raila Odinga, recommends an additional 70 MP seats in what its drafters say is meant to address issues touching on gender, People living with disabilities and under-representation in heavily populated counties.
The proposal will see the National Assembly have a total of 360 MPs up from the current 290.
The 14-member BBI steering committee that was tasked with the role of overseeing the implementation of the first report that was unveiled last year wants the population quota limited to 132,138 people per Member of Parliament.
Read: Little Chance Of New Ideas In BBI Report, Just Editorial Changes – Raila
The committee adopted the formula after a consultative meeting with Members of Parliament (Senate & National Assembly) and the two handshake partners in Naivasha held on November 2.
This means that Nairobi County which currently has 17 constituencies will get an additional 16 new seats to serve its 4,397,073 residents. The population statistics are drawn from the 2019 Census report.
Kiambu County, which is the second most populous counties in the country with a population of 2,417,705, will be allocated six new constituencies if the proposals are adopted.
This will see populous Juja, Kiambaa, Ruiru and Thika West constitutes split to create the additional constituencies.
Read Also: Little Chance Of New Ideas In BBI Report, Just Editorial Changes – Raila
In the proposed formula, Mombasa County which currently has six MPs will have an extra three to serve a population of 1,208,333.
Further, Kilifi County, with a population of 1,4453,787 will vote for a total of 11 MPs up from the previous seven. The new population per quota in Kilifi will now become 132,162 per Member of Parliament.
The report has received support from leaders close to the handshake partners with Deputy President William Ruto and his allies saying that they will only support it if it addresses challenges affecting the common mwananchi.
Read Also: “Watajua Hawajui”: Ruto On Stopping BBI Reggae [Video]
See attached photos for detailed analysis on how the MP seats will be distributed if the proposals are adopted.
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