•Aukot's initiative, called Punguza Mizigo, sought to among other objectives, reduce the number of MPs from 416 to 147.
In September 2018, Thirdway Alliance party leader Ekuru Aukot started an initiative which sought to make changes to the 2010 Constitution.
This, despite him being among the Committee of Experts who drafted the Constitution.
Aukot's initiative, called Punguza Mizigo, sought to among other objectives, reduce the number of MPs from 416 to 147.
He sought to amend the Constitution through a popular initiative, which is in accordance with Article 257 of the Constitution.
Aukot also wanted to end historical gender inequality and ensure that Kenyans elect one man and one woman from each of the 47 counties into the National Assembly.
The Bill intended to do away with nominations in both county assemblies and Senate.
In a bid to tame corrupt individuals stealing money from the public coffers, Aukot had suggested a life sentence for culprits convicted of corruption and theft of public funds.
When it came to the presidential term, Aukot wanted the current provision for two terms of five years each to be reduced to a single term of seven years.
Aukot also wanted the position of deputy governors to be abolished and instead wanted the governor to nominate from among the duly vetted and appointed County Executive Officers, one of them to be his/her Principal Assistant for purposes of administration.
He further suggested that in the event that the office of the governor is declared vacant, a by-election should be done to fill his/her position.
In the current Constitution, the deputy governor assumes the office of the governor under such events.
Hitting the road for signatures
Aukot and his team embarked on the first step of the amendment, which is collecting at least one million signatures countrywide from registered voters.
In July, the Independent Electoral ad Boundaries Commission received 1.4 million signatures from the Punguza Mizigo team.
The Commission started a verification process and confirmed that 1.2 million signatures were from valid voters.
The commission gave Punguza Mizigo a go-ahead, to the surprise of some.
A similar bid to change the Constitution - Okoa Kenya, which was fronted by the CORD coalition in 2016 - failed from the word go.
The commission at the time said it received 1,633,577 signatures and ended up with 891,598 genuine signatures after verification.
IEBC's decision on Punguza Mizigo signatures was protested by Election Observation Group (ELOG), saying that the verification process had many faults.
IEBC Chairperson Wafula Chebukati dismissed their claims.
Wooing County Assemblies
Chebukati said the Bill was to be submitted to the 47 County Assemblies within three months.
The law states that the drafted bill proceeds to Parliament if it is approved by the majority of the county assemblies. In this case, Punguza Mizigo Bill needed the support of 24 counties out of the 47 in order to sail through to the next level.
Punguza Mizigo was criticised by politicians who said the Bill was not a solution to the problems facing Kenyans.
ODM party leader Raila Odinga said the bill will not solve challenges Kenyans face.
“Kenyans are facing many challenges that we know can't be solved through Punguza Mizigo. All we are waiting for is the BBI report so that we can go for a referendum in accordance with our recommendations," Raila said.
The BBI was birthed after the Handshake between Raila and President Uhuru Kenyatta agreed to put aside their differences and move the country forward following disputed elections in 2017.
Women politicians under the team 'Embrace', which was formed to drum up support for the handshake, asked counties to reject Punguza Mizigo.
Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru, Homa Bay Woman Representative Gladys Wanga were among the leaders who were at the forefront against Aukot's proposal.
Aukot was quick to respond, saying that those who opposed the Bill were not sincere.
Aukot said that the bill had gained popularity in counties, only to be "hijacked" by politicians whom he said were beneficiaries of the current system.
He accused Waiguru of intimidating Kirinyaga MCAs to dismiss the bill.
Aukot said the bill had outlined integrity issues which he alleged Waiguru had failed to meet.
Despite the opposition from all corners of the country, more so from politicians, Aukot kicked off his campaign with three months to persuade MCAs to pass the bill once it was tabled before them.
Uasin Gishu County Assembly unanimously approved the Bill, becoming the first county to pass it, giving Aukot a reason to smile.
But the long journey had just started. Aukot needed 23 more counties to follow the same route taken by Uasin-Gishu MCAs.
Turkana, Aukot's home county, did not disappoint him. MCAs overwhelmingly passed the bill too, despite the rejection it faced from other counties.
Things fall apart
Things started to fall apart for Aukot's attempt to amend the Constitution when county assemblies started shooting down his proposals.
More than 30 counties voted against the bill, with the majority saying that the bill had gaps that needed to be fixed.
In October, the Governing Council of County Assemblies unanimously rejected the bill.
They said that the bill did not consider public participation and consultation prior to the preparation, hence the views were not fully representative of the public.
The council also said Aukot's bill was not in favour of devolution as it sought to abolish nominations in county assemblies and the Senate.
After the failure to marshal more than 24 counties to back his bill, Aukot admitted defeat.
He promised to roll out Phase Two of the Bill after consultation with members of the public.
“We shall engage further with members of the public as we plan to role out Phase Two of the Punguza Mizigo campaign, which we are dubbing Punguza Mizigo Kenya,” Aukot said.
After the release of the BBI report on November 27, Aukot slammed the BBI task force, accusing it of picking some aspects of Punguza Mizigo.
He said the task force wasted public money, only to come up with "nothing different" from what the rejected bill had.
“BBI report is a collection of street talk tailor-made to create chaos by weakening constitutional institutions. There is no new thinking. It also lifted aspects from the Punguza Mizigo Bill,” Aukot said on Twitter.