• The Bill has one-day remaining to be tabled before County Assemblies.
• The Bill would have been moved to the next step, which is the Parliament had it been approved by the majority of county assemblies.
Image: FILE
The Punguza Mizigo Initiative Bill sponsored by Thirdway Alliance party leader Ekuru Aukot hit a dead end following rejection by more than 24 counties.
The party sought to amend the Constitution. The party managed to gather 1.2 million signatures across the country verified by IEBC to be from genuine voters.
The Bill would have been moved to the next step, which is the Parliament had it been approved by the majority of county assemblies.
Out of 47 counties, Aukot's Bill needed the support of 24 counties to sail through to the next step.
Punguza Mizigo has been rejected by more than 24 counties.
One day remains for the Bill to be tabled before county assemblies.
In a press statement on October 9, Aukot had compared rejection of the Bill in the counties to a football match, saying he would not quit after one match.
The party leader said that his party will announce their next move in time.
"We shall be announcing our next steps very soon. This is like a football tournament. It does not end with one match. The game has just started," Aukot said.
He also accused politicians of telling MCAs to vote against the Bill once tabled before their Chambers.
"Its rejection is choreographed and is financed by the same political class that has been benefiting from the sweat and blood of the ordinary citizen," Aukot said.
ODM party leader Raila Odinga is among leaders who have openly urged Kenyans to ignore the Punguza Mizigo Bill.
Raila said Aukot's Bill will not solve problems faced by Kenyans. He instead asked Kenyans' to be patient and wait for the recommendations to be made by the Building Bridges Initiative team.
Uasin Gishu is the only county that passed the Bill.
Reasons behind Punguza Mizigo rejection
Part of the Bill was to reduce the two-term presidency by amending Article 142 and replace it with a single term of seven years.
The Bill also wanted to reduce the number of constituencies from 290 to 94, consisting of one man and one woman from each of the 47 constituencies.
“Use each of the 47 counties, as a single constituency unit for purposes of parliamentary elections to the Senate and National Assembly. This abolishes the current 290 constituencies,” part of the Bill reads.
The Bill has been termed retrogressive and the enemy to devolution by MCAs.
Devolution CS Eugene Wamalwa asked MCAs from the Western part of the country to shoot down the Bill. He said over the weekend that reducing the number of constituencies will have a negative impact on development.
Aukot had said his Bill would cut the high cost caused by high representation, which he said has largely contributed to the huge national wage bill.
National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi said that the Bill seeks to scrap the woman representative position.
Muturi said that the Bill will only take Kenya "back to the dark ages" and destroy devolution.
"At a time when we are fighting to ensure equity in leadership and representation for both men and women of this country, Punguza Mizigo, or is it Ongeza Mizigo, has no place for that. How can you remove nominated and woman rep positions bearing in mind women in this nation have been lagging behind in political leadership?” Muturi said.