Moyale residents have criticised the proposed Village Unit Bill 2014, and called for its review before being passed.
In the bill, the entire county will have a maximum of 60 and minimum of 50 village units.
The creation of village units was based on area population, according to county assembly committee on administration, which is spearheading public participation on the bill.
But residents claim the proposed units were framed by county executive without the participation of all stakeholders. They also claimed representation during creation of the village units was discriminatory. “We urge leaders to revisit and amend the bill because the whole process was based on favouritism,” said Guyo Kule of Somare area during a public participation at Moyale County Hall on Sunday.
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Mr Kule pointed out that the bill, which is expected to be passed by the Assembly early next year, might create fresh disputes among communities.
He claimed his location was omitted from the list of proposed village units for unknown reasons, and promised to rally locals to oppose the bill.
“Somare has a population of approximately 5,000 people. We want to know why we were denied the chance when a sub-location like Funan-nyatta got a unit,” he said.
Most residents consider the creation of village units as part of employment creation, and therefore want full representation across the county to avoid favouritism.
They say fairness in devolution will strengthen ongoing reconciliation process among the warring communities.
Several speakers at the function vowed to oppose and challenge the matter in court in case the bill is passed by the assembly, which sits in Marsabit.
They proposed the creation of additional village units in Somare, Kate, Diri-Dima, Yaballo, Godoma, Biashara, Mansile in Moyale. Others are Golole and Ambollo in Sololo, Badassa in Marsabit and Sori and Loglogo in Laisamis.
The residents further claimed the bill does not specify boundaries that separate villages from one another, and urged committee on administration to clearly indicate the boundaries.
College rider
Others criticised the population criteria that the committee used while creating the units.
“We don’t believe in population criteria since areas like Golbo with high population was left out,” said Rashid Sheik Hassan, a resident of Golbo.
He is also against the proposed diploma qualification for village administrators, saying it is too high.
