Nasa raises storm on boundary review

Nasa has opened a new battlefront with the electoral agency on the planned review of constituency and ward boundaries.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is from this month relooking at the boundaries with the aim of either reducing or increasing the number of constituencies and wards.

The exercise is expected to end a year to the August 2022 elections.

IEBC

But even before the work begins, Nasa has questioned the ability of the Wafula Chebukati-led IEBC to conduct it. “We want justice. We know IEBC is planning to add constituencies but it cannot be trusted to deal with electoral boundaries. Even European Union observers indicated that IEBC cannot be trusted,” Nasa co-principal Musalia Mudavadi said at Uhuru Gardens in Mombasa on Sunday.

“They (IEBC) will give many constituencies to Jubilee and deny Nasa zones. The process can no longer be valid,” he added.

Talk of the review being used to help politicians get ‘favourable’ boundaries has never been far from such tasks. In 2010, when the Andrew Ligale-led boundary review commission conducted the last process, the accusations were so bad that some MPs went to court to demand a review of the new boundaries.

REVIEW

In the review, the former Rift Valley province got an additional 27 constituencies, making them 76, while Nyanza rose to 42 constituencies after 10 were added.

Western and Nairobi got an additional nine each, taking their tally to 33 and 17 respectively. Coast and Central got five each, totalling to 26 and 34 respectively.

The former Eastern province got eight more, totalling to 44. North Eastern got seven more, totalling to 18. As it stands, Nairobi has 17 constituencies, Kiambu (12), and Nakuru (11).
Yesterday, Mr Chebukati, was not available to discuss the matter. But in an earlier interview this month, he had warned against politicising the exercise.