The number of constituencies without representation could increase should parliament approve the nomination of Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi to join the Cabinet as CS for Energy and Petroleum ealier this week.

This happens amidst a number of pending by-elections in other constituencies like Banissa and Magarini.

Banissa constituency has been pending by-election since March 28, 2023, when the area MP Kullow Maalim Hassan died in a hit and run road accident in Nairobi, while Magarini constituency has been pending by-election since March 31, 2024, after the Supreme Court upheld the nullification of election of Harrison Kombe.

The reason as to why now these three constituencies – assuming Mr Wandayi resigns - together with a number of wards like Kisa East Ward (Kakamega), Kakuyuni Ward (Kilifi), Chewani Ward (Tana River) and Nyamira Ward (Nyamira) are pending by-elections, is the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is yet to be constituted. IEBC is still in the formation phase after President William Ruto signed the IEBC Bill on July 9, 2024.

IEBC became incapacitated following the retirement of Chairperson Wafula Chebukati and ex-commissioners Abdi Guliye and Boya Mulu in January 2024 after the other commissioners resigned under duress and pressure over the controversy that aroused during the tallying of the presidential polls in 2022.

It is for that matter that the IEBC is set to be constituted by a selection panel of nine members involving two men and two women nominated by the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC), one person nominated by the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), two persons nominated by the Inter-Religious Council of Kenya (IRCK) and two representatives from the Political Parties' Liaison Committee. The panel will then invite interested candidates eyeing the positions of chairperson and commissioners. It will then forward two names to the president for the position of IEBC chairperson and nine others for commissioner position where the president will appoint one for chairperson and six as commissioners.

The speaker of the National Assembly, the Senate or the respective county assembly, is the one mandated by the Constitution to write to the chairperson of IEBC - who will have been appointed by the president - informing him or her of the vacancy in case the elective position falls vacant as a result of death of a member or because of any other admissible reason. The chairperson of IEBC will then gazette the date of the by-election.

Normally, it should be done within three months from the date of the announcement. This is the reason as to why the aforementioned pending by-elections cannot happen anytime soon since the chairperson is not yet appointed.

Should Mr Wandayi who is also the Leader of the Minority in Parliament be approved for the CS position by MPs after being nominated by Dr Ruto on Wednesday, the Ugunja electorate might pass through the same cycle passed by the people of Banissa and Magarini of staying without representation in the National Assembly for a while.