THE STANDARD By
Roselyne Obala |
April 4th 2021 at 00:00:00 GMT +0300
President Uhuru Kenyatta and Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga during the launch of the collection of signatures for the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI). [Stafford Ondego, Standard]
It is now emerging that time is of the essence in passing the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) Bill.
Of concern is the proposal to create 70 new constituencies’ which has elicited mixed reactions especially on the legal provisions and timelines.
There is also the proposal to overhaul the Independent and Electoral Commission (IEBC), which is presently not properly constituted after four commissioners resigned.
As per the detailed action plan by the proponents of the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2020, popularly known as BBI Bill, Parliament was expected to consider the Bill by April 5.
THE STANDARD
POLITICS
Kuria East MP Marwa Kitayama.
There is growing disquiet in Nyanza and Western because of ‘few’ additional constituencies the regions will get if the Constitutional of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2020, sails through in the referendum.
The Bill, popularly referred to as the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) Bill, proposes to increase the number of constituencies from 290 to 360.
The proposed law will see Deputy President William Ruto’s Rift Valley stronghold getting the lion’s share of the electoral areas followed by Nairobi, Central and Coast.
The Bill, that was passed by the county assemblies and has been forwarded to Parliament, indicates that Rift Valley will get 23 new constituencies, Nairobi 12, Central Kenya 11 and Coast 10.