Constitutional review to tackle political overrepresentation long overdue

Former President Mwai Kibaki (C) displays the constitution during the promulgation of the new constitution at the Uhuru Park grounds in Nairobi, August 27, 2010. [File, Standard]

President Uhuru Kenyatta’s introduction of unpopular but necessary tax hikes and spending cuts has put our Sh5 trillion public debt in the spotlight. Although reform is needed, such as more transparent accounting of how funds borrowed in taxpayers’ name are used, the reality is that debt isn’t Kenya’s biggest problem. A bigger challenge that has long been overlooked is massive political overrepresentation.

The result of this overrepresentation, which is prescribed by the 2010 Constitution, is twofold. First, we have an increasingly unsustainable wage bill, which is one of the primary drivers of the need to borrow and increase taxes. The high wage bill reflects in the high recurrent expenditures.