The Punguza Mizigo Bill is likely to face opposition in Nyeri over proposals to abolish the NG-CDF and reduce the number of MPs.
Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua and Governor Mutahi Kahiga on Monday said there is no way two MPs can represent the entire county when more MPs are needed in Nyeri.
Gachagua said a constituency like Mathira cannot be abolished because residents want it split into two constituencies to form Mathira East and West.
“One aspect that I have seen that is not acceptable to the people of Mathira is where they propose to abolish constituencies,” Gachagua said.
The IEBC has okayed more than one million signatures to amend the Constitution to reduce the number of MPs and ease the burden on taxpayers.
The Punguza Mizigo campaign is led by Ekuru Aukot's Thirdway Alliance party. The Bill will be submitted to the county assemblies within three months.
MP Gachagua said his constituency has more than 100,000 voters, making representation difficult as it is close to impossible to reach each and every part of the constituency.
“For somebody to suggest that people can do away with a constituency like Mathira, he should be prepared for a serious opposition,” Gachagua said.
There is no way people can allow the National Government- Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) to be abolished.
"I know that when the matter gets to discussion, the people of Mathira will say no to that aspect,” the MP said.
Gachagua further said a one-term, seven-year presidency will lead to dictatorship.
“Having a president for one term can make him decide to be dictatorial or go to sleep and people can do nothing about it,” he said.
Governor Kahiga said the Bill does not favour county governments except for the part of increasing funding to counties.
“There is no way counties can rush to abolish the position of the deputy governor. Kenyans will also not agree with the idea of bringing down the number of MPs and abolishing the CDF,” he said.
He said Nyeri has six MPs and needs two more – one in Kieni and another in Mathira, where the number of voters is high.
“But here we are talking about reducing the number so that we can save on the cost. We are not going to achieve anything by sacking MPs and changing the Constitution if we don’t address corruption,” he said.
Kahiga said corruption is what is killing the economy of the country.
