MPs agree on 70 more seats in Parliament during Naivasha BBI retreat

MPs have agreed on the addition of 70 more seats in Parliament during a BBI consensus retreat in Naivasha.

President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga attended the meeting on Monday when they addressed pro-BBI MPs.

The BBI report was formally launched at the Bomas of Kenya on October 26.

The launch was the culmination of a lengthy process that involved an extensive public consultation exercise, followed by an equally detailed validation process.

In a statement released on Monday, the BBI consultative meeting for MPs, while meeting in Naivasha, agreed on a formula for the allocation of the seats by county.

See the document below;

"With the addition of 70 constituencies, the country now has 360 MPs to address the requirements of article 81(b,c & d) and article 89(7)," the document read.

Further it added that the population quota now becomes 132,138 people per MP.

This population quota is the basis of 70 additional seats. Counties that are presently under-represented by virtue of having heavy populations, will on the basis of a population quota of 132,138 people per PM, receive additional MPs.

"This is great news for Kenyans who have long suffered from under-representation and a number of whom had made submissions to the BBI steering committee on the need for additional representation," the statement further read.

MPs drawn from both the Senate and National Assembly have been meeting in Naivasha for a retreat to breakdown the contents of the BBI report.

The MPs allied to Uhuru and Raila are pushing for common ground with those opposed to the report.

The Meeting was aimed at enlightening the participants with the contents of the report ahead of it being debated in parliament.