Bondo Member of Parliament Gideon Ochada has waded into the ongoing national debate over calls for a constitutional change through a referendum.
Despite the push for a referendum being spearheaded by his party leader Raila Odinga, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party MP seems to have a different opinion over the matter.
Speaking at Cheborom village, Kesses constituency on Friday during the issuance of 2,000 title deeds to members of the Ogiek community, Ochanda said there are more pressing and serious issues ahead that Kenyans need to focus on rather than the referendum.
The MP said as at now, the referendum talk should take a break and allow the nation prepare for census and boundaries review which according to him have the potential of dividing the nation.
“For now, the referendum should take a break because census and boundaries review alone might cause divisions amongst Kenyans and adding a referendum on those two issues makes me more worried,” said Ochanda.
“We need to isolate those two issues from a referendum. At the moment we are building bridges and we can’t afford to wade into things that might jeopardize all that process,” he added.
The country is currently preparing for a census that would play a key role in the boundaries review.
Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) will conduct the census in 2019 while the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) will review boundaries between 2020 to 2021 ahead of the general elections.
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