26 constituencies could get scrapped off for failing to reach the population threshold after the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) carries out the next border review.
The review by the electoral body will be done after the Kenya Bureau of Statistics conducts the 2019 national census.
The constituencies are Tetu, Ndaragwa, Mukurweini, Othaya, Kangema, Bura, Galore, Isiolo South, Kilome, Laisamis, North Horr, Saku, Mbeere North, Lamu East and Lamu West.
[caption caption="Former Chief Justice Evans Gicheru with members of the 2009 border review commission. Left; Andrew ligale right: the late Mutula Kilonzo"]
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Other constituencies that could lose their status are Mvita, Watate, Wundanyi, Voi, Mathioya, Samburu East, Marakwet East, Keiyo North, Mogotio, Vihiga, and Budalangi.
During the last review, the population threshold was set at 133,000, a figure that could go up due to the increase in population.
For a constituency to retain its status, the population must be greater or lesser by 40 percent for cities and 30 percent for sparsely populated areas.
This quota is arrived at after dividing the total national population with 290 constituencies. The constitution requires such review to be done one year before the General Election.
IEBC has the mandate to review and to alter the names or boundaries of the existing 290 constituencies.
The previous border review was carried out in 2010 by the Andrew Ligale-led commission.
These constituencies were protected from dissolution in the last review but a source from the IEBC disclosed to The Star that this caveat will not apply in the next exercise.
“In the next review there is no protection at all. This means they will cease to exist,” the source intimated.
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke, IEBC Communications Director Andrew Limo indicated that the Commission would release a full report on the same.
“We are developing the concept note guiding the process which will start after the census,” IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati told the National Assembly Justice and Legal Affairs committee on Thursday.
Budalangi MP Raphael Wanjala told a local publication that they had formed a group of victim MPs who will lobby for the retention of the constituencies through amendment of some sections of the law.
[caption caption="Budalangi MP Raphael Wanjala"]
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