WHY PUNGUZA MZIGO MIGHT PASS.

Ekuru Aukot, the man who has so far been held with little regard might soon occasion a major restructuring of our constitution in terms of representation and balance of power among the political class. His popular initiative proposal for a constitutional changes having been approved by IEBC is set to go to counties for approval where only a simple majority of them are required to support.

Significant in his proposals are the below 9 point changes.
1. Introduction of a one seven-year term presidency.
2. Reduction of the number of MPs from the current 416 to 147.
3. Electing one man and one woman from each of the 47 counties to National assembly.
4. Abolishing nominations in county assemblies and senate.
5. Elevating senate to be upper house with veto powers.
6. Increasing counties revenue allocation from current 15% to 35%.
7. Replacing CDF with ward development funds.
8. Life sentence for culprits guilty of corruption.
9. Abolishing of the position of deputy governor.

The major change as reflected by the name of the initiative Punguza Mzigo is the significant reduction in the number of politicians both elected and nominated from 416 to 147.





The route taken by Third Way Alliance to amend this constitution is provided for under Article 257(Amendment by Popular Initiative) and lists the steps to follow as thus:
(1) An amendment to this Constitution may be proposed by a popular initiative signed by at least one million registered voters.
(2) A popular initiative for an amendment to this Constitution may be in the form of a general suggestion or a formulated draft Bill.
(3) If a popular initiative is in the form of a general suggestion, the promoters of that popular initiative shall formulate it into a draft Bill.
(4) The promoters of a popular initiative shall deliver the draft Bill and the supporting signatures to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, which shall verify that the initiative is supported by at least one million registered voters.
(5) If the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission is satisfied that the initiative meets the requirements of this Article, the Commission shall submit the draft Bill to each county assembly for consideration within three months after the date it was submitted by the Commission.
(6) If a county assembly approves the draft Bill within three months after the date it was submitted by the Commission, the speaker of the county assembly shall deliver a copy of the draft Bill jointly to the Speakers of the two Houses of Parliament, with a certificate that the county assembly has approved it.
(7) If a draft Bill has been approved by a majority of the county assemblies, it shall be introduced in Parliament without delay.
(8) A Bill under this Article is passed by Parliament if supported by a majority of the members of each House.
(9) If Parliament passes the Bill, it shall be submitted to the President for assent in accordance with Articles 256 (4) and (5).
(10) If either House of Parliament fails to pass the Bill, or the Bill relates to a matter specified in 255 (1), the proposed amendment shall be submitted to the people in a referendum.
(11) Article 255 (2) applies, with any necessary modifications, to a referendum under clause (10).

Since IEBC has verified and approved the signatures collected, Third Away Alliance has therefore passed stage 5 and so the next step is for IEBC to submit the draft bills to the counties and await the outcome.
The MCAs at the counties are the ones to consider the draft bill and interestingly the bill has a juicy aspect for them that will most likely motivate their agreement. That they are staring at the possibility of being patrons for Ward Development Fund as has been the case with MPs over CDF. What with the scrapping of CDF, an idea that already plays into the egos of MCAs waiting to display their importance as compared to MPs who now have no fund to brag with. Both current and aspiring governors will also likely support this for the sole reason that county allocations are now being increased by over 100% from the current 15% to 35%. Senators too, who are constitutionally charged with protecting the counties, and most of whom are aspiring governors are expected to support it. This stage  thus, unless something queer happens or the determinants fail to get it, can be considered done.
The next stage does not need any energy and the only remaining hurdle is the national assembly who will, and have already show the likelihood of opposing it. And so the bill gets to stage 10 where it is brought to the people to make their decision.