IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati has reiterated that the commission will not increase the number of constituencies during the boundaries review process that is set to start soon.
He said they do not have powers to do so unless Parliament amends the Constitution to alter the number of constituencies across the 47 counties from the current 290.
However, IEBC can change their (constituencies) sizes according to the law.
Chebukati has prepared a summary of the boundaries review which shows the Commission would increase or decrease the number of wards from the current 1,450 to a number that will be determined by the population size.
“The commission is at liberty to review the boundaries and names of constituencies. It is apparent however that the review does not mean increasing the number of constituencies unless the Constitution is changed,” the IEBC said in a brief about the census seen by the Nation.
The review should be done at intervals of not less than 8 years and not more than 12 years. The review should, however, be completed at least 12 months before a general election of MPs in 2022.
The electoral body has since asked for Sh8 billion for the review set for 2020 after the 2019 population census results are out.
IEBC conducted the last boundary review under a team chaired by Andrew Ligale in 2012, shortly before the March 4, 2013, general elections.
In its analysis of what problems the country faced during the last review completed in 2012, just before the March 2013 elections, the IEBC said that the Andrew Ligale-led team faced myriad challenges.
The summary came even as NASA principals issued a joint statement after a summit meeting on Tuesday, opposing the review.
The four leaders said: "That as currently constituted, and given the amendments that Jubilee introduced to the elections laws agreed on in the run-up to the 2017 polls, and having presided over elections marred by illegalities and irregularities, the IEBC cannot preside over the review of boundaries expected in 2018."
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