By The Weekly Vision
Finally, the talked about subdivision of the vast Malava constituency took place yesterday in a stormy and heated session with tempers flaring from a section of residents in attendance. The administrative subdivision that was led by the Kakamega North Deputy County commissioner Florence Omieno saw the creation of Kabras East and West sub -counties as they wait for the Independence Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to confirm before declaring the two as constituencies.
In a stormy but peaceful meeting held at Friends church, the sub-county leaders led by area MP Malulu Injendi and Mcas, David Ndakwa South Kabras, Peter Wanami Mugai, Shirugu, Kevin Mahelo, Butali of Chegulo, Kefa Musiya of East Kabras, Geoffrey Sikolia of Chemuche, David Iraya Kivishi Manda Shivanga Ward and Truphena Asembo Nominated sat patiently as the residents presented their views with many proposals being rejected by the majority of attendees.
The Kabras police led by OCPD Paul Mwendwa had to control the charged crowd that were opposing the proposed subdivision where East, North Kabras division alongside Township and Matioli locations were grouped to form Kabras East subcounty while West, South divisions, together with Shirugu and Mugai locations were clustered to form Kabras West subcounty.
The Malava MP will now be the leader of the Kabras East sub-county, as Kabras West remains open for election to choose their leader. The DCC however told the gathering that they should assume that the subdivision was final and asked them to keep their cool and wait for the final say from the IEBC. It is our administrative mandate to oversee the demarcation but it is not final as it is the IEBC which will come to review and decide if our boundaries are okay or they will change and I’m calling upon yourselves to uphold the rule of law until that time when it shall come through;
Early during the late Malava MP Soita Shalanda’s tenure, the bid to demarcate Malava failed terribly after the residents failed to agree on the mode of dividing. Area MP Malulu Injendi asked President William Ruto to allow the delimitation of Malava constituency into two due to its high population. According to the 2019 census Malava constituency human population stands at 205,166 with seven wards West Kabras 26,114, Chemuche 29,745, East Kabras 22,659, South Kabras 37523, Shirugu Mugai 25,058, Butali Chegulo 31,876 and Manda Shivanga 32,194 hence meeting the population threshold to warrant the split. The IEBC will be guided by the administrative history of the constituency.
