Kitui Senator and Deputy Minority leader Enoch Kiio Wambua tabled his proposal for the creation of Mwingi County before the National Dialogue Committee co-chaired by Wiper Leader Kalonzo Musyoka and National Assembly Majority Leader, Kimani Ichung’wah.
“As elected Senator of Kitui County and a leader in this country, I have drafted a bill for the creation of Mwingi County which is proposed to be hived off Kitui County,” the letter from Senator Kiio read.
Kiio said that there have been issues with the management and administration of the vast Kitui County even to the leaders who had the best interest of the county considering the large land mass and the distance from the county headquarters to the furthest ends.
“Whereas the districts that were created around the same time with Mwingi District gained county status in 2010, Mwingi lost because the district was not immediately gazetted after creation,” Kiio added.
Senator Kiio proposes that Mwingi County have three constituencies, Mwingi West, Mwingi Central, and Mwingi North retaining their respective 15 wards. Currently, Kitui County has a population of 1,136,187 according to the 2019 Census thus when Mwingi County is hived off it will remain with a population of 700,862 while Mwingi County will have 435,325. Kitui County has a total size of 30,430 KM² when Mwingi County is hived off Kitui will remain with 20,376 KM² while Mwingi County will have 10,054 KM².
The County will be bigger compared to Mombasa, Vihiga, Nairobi, Nyamira, Kirinyaga, and Kisii Counties. In terms of population, the proposed Mwingi County will have more population than Lamu, Isiolo, Samburu, Tana River, Taita Taveta, and Tharaka Nithi Counties.
In regards to Constituencies, Lamu and Isiolo Counties have two, and Samburu, Tharaka Nithi, and Tanariver have three just like the way the proposal of Mwingi County.
The committee is set to meet on September 11 to discuss boundary delimitation to bring balance to different counties as part of their priority in addressing electoral justice.
