Kenya: Unease in Kitui East Over Bid to Create New County

Leaders in Kitui East Constituency have started collecting signatures to counter a proposal to change the constitution to split Kitui County and create room for the country’s 48th devolved unit–Mwingi.

The Constitutional Amendment Bill introduced by Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua will be debated at the Senate next month, but residents have vowed to reject it, saying it will disenfranchise a huge segment of the population.

The bone of contention is Mr Wambua’s proposal to include Kitui East Constituency among the electoral areas that will form the new Mwingi County, without consulting residents.

In a terse statement sent to newsrooms yesterday, former Kitui East MP Major (Rtd) Mutua Muluvi urged Mr Wambua to withdraw the bill or face a battle in court: “The primary essence of devolution is to bring government services closer to the people. It, therefore, defeats logic to [force] residents of Kitui East Constituency to travel an extra distance of 200 kilometres (one way) to meet a governor in Mwingi.”

Kitui town

Mr Muluvi noted that, geographically, some of the residential estates in Kitui town are actually in Kitui East, whose boundary lies barely 200 meters from the governor’s office.

“We’re not opposed to creation of Mwingi County but this plan will disenfranchise a huge population, who are far removed from the social, cultural and economic affairs of Mwingi region,” he said.

The Bill seeks to amend articles 97 and 98 to create a new county. It proposes that the new county should include Mwingi Central, Mwingi West, Mwingi North, and Kitui East constituencies.

“The overall design of the bill … is to … enhance someone’s re-election chances … by riding on the aspirations of Mwingi people [to have] their own county, while punishing other regions through unrealistic clauses,” Mr Muluvi charged. He said Mr Wambua did not consult the people and should have instead proposed to include Kitui West, currently represented in parliament by Ms Edith Nyenze, and which conveniently borders Mwingi region.

Separately, county assembly members from Kitui East yesterday launched a signature collection drive to petition the Senate and the National Assembly over their grievances regarding the bill. Led by Voo/Kyamatu MCA Kivali Musyoka, the ward reps said the bill will disrupt boundaries and the governance structure and negatively affect peoples’ lives.

“Even before the public participation is launched, we’ll collect 50,000 signatures to reject this evil scheme and have our own referendum against the bill and its mover,” said Mr Musyoka.

He said the three constituencies in Mwingi are sufficient to warrant the creation of a fully-fledged county and any additions should not be done at the expense of other regions or to achieve a selfish political agenda.

The MCAs, including Mr Musyoka, Ruth Kyene (Nzambani), James Wangunze (Chuluni), Eunice Katheke (Zombe/Mwitika), Anastasia Mutunga (Mutito/Kaliku) and Mwikali Sammy (Endau/Malalani) vowed to oppose the bill. In a rejoinder shared on social media, Mr Wambua accused leaders opposed to the bill of ;lying to the public.

“It is unfortunate that Major Muluvi has chosen to expose his ignorance of legislative procedures. My bill is about the creation of Mwingi County. I’ll address these concerns once I move the bill in the second reading,” Mr Wambua said.

The senator added that the bill will be subjected to a 90-day public participation drive that will be spearheaded by the Senate Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs, which will collect and collate the views gathered from interested parties to enrich it.

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