Public Works minister Chris Obure has said people opposed to the creation of Gucha constituency by the defunct Ligale commission over clans were compromising the spirit of national cohesion and integration.

The minister, also the Bobasi MP, dismissed allegations by his critics that he influenced the creation of the constituency to give himself a safety net come 2012 General Election.

Speaking to the media in Kisii town, Mr Obure wondered how he could have influenced the decision of the Independent Interim Electoral Boundaries Review Commission.

The commission’s decision to create three new constituencies in the region has elicited a heated debated. But Mr Obure said that seven wards from Bobasi had been added to others from Bomachoge to make the new constituency, a decision he said should be endorsed.

The minister urged the residents of the two constituencies to embrace the democratic idea of fair representation saying clan-based sentiments were irrelevant. A group of local leaders had supported Obure’s position, saying that the new constituency would remain in the same county after all.