Voting zone list out, but MPs protest

The final list of constituency and county ward boundaries has been published, clearing the way for registration of voters.

In publishing the list of 290 parliamentary seats to be contested in the March 4 General Election, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission also beat threats by MPs to delay the creation of the 80 new constituencies.

However, some MPs are accusing the commission of publishing the list prematurely as they plan a move in Parliament to have the 2013 elections held under the old 210 constituencies.

The list will also provide a guideline to presidential candidates who must get at least 25 per cent of the votes cast in at least half of the 47 counties.

In terms of counties, Nairobi leads with 17 seats, Kiambu and Kakamega come second with 12 seats each, Nakuru (11), Kisii (10), Meru (9), Bungoma (9), as Kitui, Machakos, Homa Bay and Migori each post eight constituencies.

Kilifi county tops Coast region with seven parliamentary seats with Mombasa taking six. Isiolo and Lamu have the fewest constituencies — two each.

The commission also executed the orders of the High Court, merging and shifting wards to bring the number of county assembly seats to 1,450.

Some constituencies have been renamed among them, Gwasi which will now be known as Suba, Kisumu Rural will now become Seme, Eldoret North has been renamed Turbo while Dujis is now Garissa Township.

Publication of the list means voters can now identify their electoral areas and decide where they want to be registered to vote.

Voters will only vote at the centres where they were registered. The new seats have already gone through all the steps, including gazettement and exhaustion of legal challenges.

However, Gem MP Jakoyo Midiwo argued that publication of the list was premature because MPs were still trying to find a solution to the gender quota stalemate.

“Those constituencies are irrelevant in this election. Unless they want to force it on us. We were working on something that would have made it easier for us to resolve the gender puzzle while saving the taxpayer millions of shillings.

"Now that they are moving to gazette them. Things may just get stuck,” Mr Midiwo told the Nation on phone.

Kasipul Kabondo MP Oyugi Magwanga, whose constituency has been split into two, argued that the decision should have been suspended to avoid more crises over the gender composition after the General Election.

“It would have been easier to resolve the gender composition with 210 constituencies as per a new formula which we have been working on. With 290 constituencies, someone must now perform a miracle for us to meet the constitutional requirement,” Mr Magwanga said.

On Tuesday, Constitution Implementation Oversight Committee chairman Abdikadir Mohamed said the electoral commission can set up new polling stations in the fresh electoral areas.

“They were gazetted and people who had their own misgivings went to court where the judges directed merging of wards and change of names. They are as good as legal,” the MP said.

By reaching the final stage of the creation of new constituencies, the IEBC chaired by Mr Ahmed Issack Hassan will now focus on the polling stations at which 18 million voters are expected to participate in the next elections will be registered.

Mr Abdikadir said a section of MPs were pushing for a minor change through the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill which is before Parliament. “There was a small issue in the Amendment Bill to correct an omission but they will go through,” he said.

MPs have failed to find a solution to the constitutional requirement that no more than two-thirds of elective seats be held by people of the same gender. (READ: Team warns of gender rule crisis)

Without unlocking this requirement, the country could be plunged into a constitutional crisis as composition of the National Assembly, the Senate and the County Assemblies could be challenged.

In a National assembly of 349 members, women are supposed to take up 117 of the seats, inclusive of the 47 county women representatives.

According to the published list, the Rift Valley is the highest beneficiary with 27 new seats, pushing the number of constituencies in the vote-rich region to 76. Nyanza region comes second with 10 additional seats, increasing the constituencies in the area to 42.

Western region and Nairobi City share the spoils with nine new seats, taking the number of constituencies in the respective areas to 33 and 17.

Eastern region gets eight extra seats, bringing to 44 the number of constituencies as the neighbouring North Eastern boasts of a total of 18 seats after getting seven new constituencies.

Coast and Central Kenya regions have an additional five seats each, increasing the number of constituencies to 26 and 34 respectively.