I suppott kenya

SUPPORT CORD ON THIS....let's. change
b4 we become poorerAn MP says a Bill
whose enactment couldresult in the
reduction of the number ofcounties,
senators and Members of theNational
Assembly is ready and would betabled in
Parliament when it resumes.Mwingi
Central MP Joe Mutambu wants
thenumber of counties reduced from
thecurrent 47 to 10 or 11 and the number
ofMembers of National Assembly from 349
to180 to 210. The reduction of counties
wouldeffectively reduce number of
senators andgovernors to 10 or 11.Mr
Mutambu said the trimming of thenumbers
of MPs and devolved units wascrucial in
preventing an economic crisis.Speaking to
the Nation in Nairobi onSaturday, the MP
dismissed critics who arguethat the
changes to representation is notallowed in
the Constitution, instead insistingit could
be done if Parliament reviews
theconstitution and the matter is then
voted forin referendum.He said elected
leaders have no cause toworry as his Bill
would seek for the changesto be
implemented in the next GeneralElection
.The proposal by Mr Mutambu, of the
WiperDemocratic Movement, has already
drawnopposition from senators and
governors.Mr Mutambu says the law
should beamended to merge some
counties, and theformer provinces should
be turned intocounties and only the larger
Rift Valley andEastern be split.“The current
counties are only being used topromote
tribalism. You cannot be agovernor of
Kiambu if you are not a Kikuyuor Kisumu if
you are not a Luo. It is also tooexpensive
to run the 48 governments(counties and
national),” Mr Mutambu said.“We need to
review the law and hold areferendum and
remove most of thosecounties and rename
them states as was informer Bomas draft.
We would then havegovernors in-charge of
say Lower Eastern,Upper Eastern, Nairobi,
Western and CentralState,” Mr Mutambu
said.He said the many county governments
wereunsustainable and denying the
countrymoney for development.SAME
ROLESHe questioned why the county
governmentswere employing 10 ministers
each andprincipal secretaries yet the
nationalgovernment had 18 ministries
doing thesame roles.“The counties do not
have money to pay forthe new offices they
were creating. The 47Excellencies’
(governors) have been reducedto be
beggars. That is why they want to
taxpeople for keeping chicken, marriage
andfor giving birth,” he said.He said 90
percent of government revenueshould go
to development and salariesshould only be
for essential serviceproviders like teachers,
doctors, police andarmy.The MP also
questioned the role of countywomen
representatives saying setting asideseats
for them is against the Constitution
andthat the positions should be
scrapped.Mr Mutambu said the role of
senators shouldalso be properly defined in
the Constitutionto avoid duplication of
roles with Membersof the National
Assembly.“For instance, we don’t need 17
MPs inNairobi, a senator and a governor.
Someministries in certain counties are also
justthere to milk money,” Mr Mutambu
said.The MP said if fellow MPs down his
bill, hewould move round the country and
mobiliseKenyans to demand the change
“even ifthrough an uprising.”Each of the 47
governors have cabinets of atleast eight
ministers with various chiefofficers in
addition to Members of theCounty
Assemblies, Senators and
WomenRepresentatives which, according
toMutambu, is too expensive for the
country.The powers of the counties are
provided inArticles 191 and 192, and in the
FourthSchedule of the Constitution of
Kenya andthe County Governments Act of
2012.The counties are also single
memberconstituencies for the election of
members ofparliament to the senate and
special womenmembers of parliament to
the the NationalAssembly.The Constitution
creates 47 countygovernments based on
the delineation ofadministrative districts as
created under theProvinces and Districts
Act of 1992.According to Chapter 16 of the
constitution,any proposed amendment to
“objects,principles and structure of
devolvedgovernment” must go through a
referendum.A proposal to amend or
reduce the numberof MCA's, Counties and
Senators is anamendment to the structure
of devolvedgovernments so it will require
areferendum.Under Article 256, a Bill for
this purpose canbe tabled in either house
of parliament -Senate or National Assembly
but must obtainsupport of the other. The
Bill must obtaintwo thirds support from
both houses. TheBill cannot be read a
second time before 90days lapse. The
period is meant to allowtime for public
debate.Once passed, both speakers are
required tosubmit it to the president who
would requestthe electoral commission to
conduct areferendum within 90 days.
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