Boundary reviews are emotive. There are fears that 67 constituencies could be axed for failing to meet the set population quota. That will not be easy as the electoral units have existed for years and people have got used to them. Voters have what borders on sentimental attachment.
Understandably, there are jitters in the National Assembly. This follows revelations by members of the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee, which audits the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), and which will have a say on the delimitation report before MPs vote on it.
It is already shaping up as the new battlefront between the ruling Kenya Kwanza Alliance and opposition Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition.
Some 27 constituencies that did not meet the constitutional minimum population threshold in 2012 were spared. The number has more than doubled. Population quota is the number derived from dividing the population by the 290 constituencies. During the last review, the quota was 133,138. The threshold now could be 164,014. Besides the 27, another 40 constituencies could be affected.
The country must get its act together on this matter. However, it must first reconstitute the IEBC by filling the vacant positions. This is the key constitutional condition to be met first before redrawing of the boundaries.
The National Dialogue Committee (NDC) has been tasked with tackling the boundaries question and reconstituting the IEBC, which must precede the redrawing of constituencies, as this cannot be done without a full commission. NDC co-chairman Kalonzo Musyoka has conceded that it is, indeed, too emotive an issue to tamper with.
Boundary reviews are at the heart of representation and sharing of resources and must, therefore, be prioritised. This political, constitutional and electoral crisis in the making must be handled deftly.