Re-channel CDF to county governments for better utility

When the High Court declared the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) unconstitutional, it caused such consternation among Members of Parliament that in the ensuing frenzy, the clear demarcation lines that denote Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (Cord) and the Jubilee coalition were obliterated.

No more red lines were necessary and neither was there need to invoke the notorious ‘tyranny of numbers’ maxim for Jubilee to prevail. In their grief, MPs have exhibited such unity and speak the same language one is bound to wonder what demons possess them when it matters most.

MPs argue that CDF is the best thing that ever happened to Kenyans, second only to themselves. Listening to them blow their own trumpet, there is no doubt the legislators believe they are God’s gift to the Kenyan electorate and the control of CDF guarantees that. I cannot fathom why they think they are the only ones competent to manage CDF.

Viewed in isolation, the CDF concept is noble. Most areas in Kenya boast schools, dispensaries, cattle dips, roads and small development projects that have actually benefited constituents. In some areas roads are passable because of CDF, but that is no reason to thank, or even praise MPs. The tax payers are entitled to those services because they paid for them in advance, continue to do so and it does not matter who delivers the services as long as they are delivered.

Execution of CDF has rendered it susceptible to misuse by MPs who over time turned it into a bargaining chip for votes and a platform on which to reward cronies, relatives and mistresses without due regard to competency, qualifications and integrity. Public participation in project identification and implementation is never sought. With the connivance of suppliers, costs have often been inflated to cover indiscretions.

I have heard some MPs boast that CDF has achieved more than County Governments and I find this reasoning simplistic. County governments are only two years old while CDF has been there for the last 12 years. How does one even begin to compare? Recently The Standard carried a story on Nyang Primary School in Muhoroni, Kisumu County. Even with CDF, the mud walled school has inadequate desks and other facilities, but the most depressing thing is that two classes share a single room as learning goes on simultaneously.

How can pupils concentrate, and compete with other children in better equipped schools? The school is an indictment on the execution of CDF. On the other hand, the fact that residents of Mandera County saw a tarmac road for the first time last year and had the first caesarean birth since independence is an argument for county governments and a further indictment on CDF.

The demand for higher monetary allocations by county governments has occasioned bad blood between the two tiers of government. The abolition of CDF could be a blessing in disguise for counties and the national government. Channeling the billions of shillings earmarked for CDF to counties will have a greater impact because of the established checks and balances in accounting. With county executives, there is a guarantee of not only enhanced accountability, but greater reach as well.

I have no qualms in stating that MPs have not entirely acted above board on CDF. Many have used it to gain undue advantage over others. Lugari MP Ayub Savula has exhibited rare objectivity and political maturity by urging legislators to shelve their intended appeal against the High Court ruling and allow citizens the final say.

Thomas Jefferson, author of America’s Declaration of Independence once predicted happiness for Americans if they could prevent the government from wasting the labours of the people under the pretence of taking care of them. The same is true of Kenya if the citizens could stop MPs from wasting their labours under the guise of making lives better through managing CDF.