Eric Omondi’s latest attempt to reshape Kenya’s political system was interrupted on Monday when plain-clothes police officers arrested the comedian-turned-activist in Nairobi’s Central Business District.
Omondi was collecting signatures outside the National Archives for his “Punguza Mzigo” campaign, which calls for sweeping changes to Kenya’s governance structure.
Video from the scene showed officers handcuffing Omondi and taking him to a waiting vehicle. He was heard asking why he was being arrested and where he was being taken.
Police later said the arrest was linked to an alleged public gathering that had not been notified to authorities. Central Police Station OCPD Patrick Gogo confirmed that Omondi had been detained over the alleged breach.
Omondi’s campaign, however, presents the exercise as a civic initiative aimed at gathering public support for constitutional change.
“We are going to reduce the counties from 47 to eight. It will happen,” Omondi said before his arrest, announcing that the signature drive would continue at the Archives through Friday.
A smaller government
At the centre of Omondi’s campaign is a proposal to replace Kenya’s 47 counties with eight larger regional units.
He also wants the Senate abolished, Women Representative positions removed, nominated members eliminated and the number of Members of County Assembly reduced.
Omondi argues that the changes would shrink the cost of government and ease the burden on taxpayers. His campaign says money saved could instead be directed towards public services, including education.
The proposal is not new. Omondi launched a similar push in 2024, arguing that Kenya had too many layers of political representation and that the system had become expensive to maintain. (The Star)
His current campaign says it has collected about 450,000 signatures from previous drives in places including Kakamega, Meru and Mombasa. That figure has not been independently verified.
The target is one million signatures.
That number is significant. Article 257 of the Constitution allows a constitutional amendment to be proposed through a popular initiative backed by at least one million registered voters. The signatures must then be submitted to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission for verification before the process can move forward.
The bigger question
The campaign has reopened a familiar debate in Kenya: whether devolution has delivered enough value to justify the cost of maintaining the current system.
The Constitution established county governments and gave them responsibility for a range of local services and functions. The Senate, meanwhile, represents the counties and has constitutional responsibilities that include protecting their interests and overseeing national revenue allocated to them.
Reducing the number of counties would therefore be more than an administrative exercise. It would require major constitutional changes to the country’s system of devolved government.
The Constitution specifically provides that amendments affecting the structure of devolved government must ultimately be approved through a referendum.
For now, Omondi’s campaign remains at the signature-gathering stage.
His arrest has added another dimension to a debate that was already touching on the cost of government, the purpose of devolution and the number of political offices Kenya can afford.
Whether the campaign can gather the required verified signatures and persuade Kenyans to support its proposals at a referendum remains to be seen.
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