Former Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale has proposed the scrapping of the current 47 counties which he says should be merged to create 14 new devolved units.

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The former Ikolomani MP says the 47 counties are a heavy burden to the Kenyan taxpayer who shoulders a heavy load of paying all county employees in the 47 administrative units.

According to Khalwale Kenya can only afford to have 14 counties which he says should include Nairobi, Lower Eastern, Upper Eastern, North Eastern, Upper Western and Lower Western.

Others, he says, should be Upper Coast, Lower Coast, North Rift, South Rift, Lake Basin, Southern Nyanza, West Mount Kenya and Central.

"California State in the USA is bigger than Kenya," he said in a tweet implying that there was no need for Kenya to have smaller counties.

There has been debate over whether the Constitution should be amended to review the counties' boundaries to create new ones while merging the present units.

Those propagating for the reduction of counties argue that the 47 devolved units are expensive to maintain bearing in mind that over 50 percent of the money sent by the National Treasury to counties is spent on paying salaries at the expense of development.

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