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{
"id": 208775,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/208775/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Ms. Karua",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs",
"speaker": {
"id": 166,
"legal_name": "Martha Wangari Karua",
"slug": "martha-karua"
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"content": " Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to move that the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill be now read a Second Time. Mr. Speaker, Sir, this Bill seeks to amend Sections 33 and 42 of the Constitution. Section 42 Sub-section 4 of the Constitution states that:- \"At intervals of not less than eight and not more than ten years, and whenever directed by an Act of Parliament, the Electoral Commission shall review the number, the boundaries and the names of the constituencies into which Kenya is divided, and may, by order, alter the number, the boundaries or the names, subject to and in accordance with this section, to the extent that it considers desirable in the light of the review\". Mr. Speaker, Sir, constituencies were last reviewed in 1996, when the Electoral Commission added 22 new constituencies. The Constitutional amendment extending or increasing the number of constituencies had been passed way back in 1991. The current Section 42 of the Constitution, Sub-section 2, the upper limit of constituencies is 210. We all know that this House has 210 elected Members. The Electoral Commission, from 2003, 2004 and finishing in 2005, did do its work of looking at the needs of the country in view of the increase in population and other factors and, eventually, did recommend the creation of additional 42 constituencies. The Electoral Commission would not be able to do that unless and until this Parliament amends Section 42 of the Constitution to increase the number of constituencies to enable the review of the constituencies. The reason why the constituencies need to be reviewed--- I have already stated the increase in the population, the requirement by the Constitution itself and the fact that, our population quotient is the highest in the region, if you compare it to the other two East African countries, where they have lesser population of 25 million and 35 million, respectively, compared to Kenya. They have over 300 Members of Parliament to that population. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we also know that new districts have been created, which will, as of necessity, affect constituency boundaries and, therefore, necessitating the review of constituencies. By virtue of this constitutional provision, it is not the work of this Parliament to determine, at any one given time, how many constituencies Kenya needs. It is the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) which is solely mandated to review and recommend the number of constituencies. The work of this House is merely to set the lower and the upper limits of the constituencies. That is what we are seeking to do. The task of bringing the proposals to the House falls on the Government August 15, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3229 of the day. We are, therefore, fulfilling our mandate by tabling this Bill before the House, which seeks to increase the number of constituencies from the current upper limit of 210 by 40 to 250, thereby setting the lower limit at 210 and the upper limit to 250 constituencies. That will then enable the ECK, according to its own Report, to go ahead and determine how many constituencies we should have before the next General Election. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I am not able to table the Report of the ECK because by nature, as forwarded to the Government, it is secret. However, I am aware that on 18th November, 2004, the ECK wrote to all registered political parties on this issue. In their Report, a copy of which I will table in this House because it is taken, by virtue of the fact that all of us belong to political parties, that we received this information, the ECK recommended 42 seats. The ECK went back into history that in 1996, 22 new constituencies had been created. According to the ECK, the number of constituencies now needed to increase by 42 to make 250 constituencies. Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is true that subsequent to this, the ECK made further suggestions for another 17 additional constituencies to be considered. However, I want to emphasise that the actual recommendation was only 42 constituencies. That is the Report that was shared by all political parties, and I wish to table a copy of it."
}