Former IEBC Chief Executive Officer Ezra Chiloba has dismissed Thirdway Alliance leader Ekuru Aukot's Punguza Mizigo initiative as a populist bill riding on the wave of the debate on public wage.
The Standard on Wednesday, September 19, reported that in an article published by Policy House (PH), Chiloba blasted the bill, stating that while it raised a few weighty issues, it was not well informed in terms of statistics and accuracy.
Chiloba claimed that the bill has been framed around the issue of reducing representation in parliament, but it did not highlight how that would lower the cost of governance.
Chiloba quoted findings by the Auditor General in 2016 that reported that, while after the 2010 constitution the cost of government rose, it was still not significantly different from the period before the constitutional reforms.
The report had also raised the need for both the county and national governments to undertake austerity measures as a way to control the splurge of funds in the county.
The Aukot Bill, however, has anchored its arguments on the reduction of the number of representatives in both the National Assembly and the county government as a way to reduce expenditure.
This, in his opinion, is a means to stir public sympathy, but without necessarily recommending a way out of the social and political quagmire that Kenyans find themselves in.
Chiloba also attacked the provision that called for the reduction of constituencies from 290 to 47, stating that it did not give a formula of how the wards would be delimited.
“Having done away with 290 constituencies, we shall have 47 counties as “constituencies.” If a multiplier of five applies, as was the case in 2012, we shall have only 235 wards, a number that is less than the current constituencies," he argued.
In his argument, if the Punguza Mizigo bill sails through, then the number of wards would be reduced from 1,450 to 705, which he opined would negatively affect representation.
“The Punguza Mizigo initiative creates a blurry line on the mode of establishment and function of Kenya’s Senate and National Assembly. Without creating a distinction of the two seats from an electoral system design perspective, Punguza Mizigo renders the bicameral system weak,” Chiloba concluded.
Chiloba joined the ranks of many leaders who have dismissed the Aukot bill, including Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru and ODM leader Raila Odinga.
The bill has also been rejected in 4 of the 5 counties where it has been pitched, with the MCAs stating that they were awaiting the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) report.
