It now appears like Thirdway Alliance Party leader Ekuru Aukot might have it very hard realizing his push for constitutional amendments, through his Punguza Mizigo bill.
The former presidential aspirant has been popularizing his bill in county assemblies, where he needs the backing of at least 24 for the bill to move to the next level.
However, the bill has so far been considered by only 8 of the 47 assemblies, 7 of which have rejected it, with details indicating that only 6 more might pass it.
The Standard has established that only Elgeyo Marakwet, Nandi, Kericho, and Taita Taveta County Assemblies are likely to pass it.
This, added to the Uasin Gishu County Assembly which has since passed it, will bring the count to seven, for a bill seeking to merge constituencies and reduce the numbers of MPs.
But Aukot now says that the government is behind the rejections of his bill, accusing the nation’s top leadership of using underhand methods to frustrate it.
“I am actually glad that the State machinery and unorthodox ways, including bribery, are employed to fight the Bill. It means we are up to big things. It has also exposed a selfish political class that survives on the suffering of the majority poor,” he said on Thursday as quoted by Standard.
The bill is facing stiff competition from another referendum push led by ODM chief Raila Odinga, with the backing of President Uhuru Kenyatta, which seeks to introduce more executive posts.
And while Uhuru is yet to open up on the Punguza Mizigo debate, Raila is on record urging Kenyans to shun it and await a report from the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) taskforce.
courtesy The Standard
Source: kenyagist.COM