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NEWS & CURRENT AFFAIRS

The Nairobian

Kericho, Narok residents reject court's decision to abolish CDF

Rift Valley

By Kiprono Kurgat | Sep 23, 2024

**Emurua Dikiir MP Johanna Ngeno urged Kenyans to protect the NGCDF kitty to ensure sustained development.** [File, Standard]

The decision by the High Court to declare National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) unconstitutional has elicited mixed reactions from residents and MPs from Kericho and Narok counties.

Residents said removing the kitty would increase their burdens and underdevelopment.

Philip Mutai, a resident of Kapsarok in Soliat ward, Sigowet-Soin Sub County, said ending the kitty will increase parents’ burdens.

“I say this because I have seen the benefits of the CDF. Removing the kitty will result in underdevelopment in some areas like Soliat, Soin and the entire Kipkelion which had been marginalised in terms of development for long. Many students will drop out of school because of lack of fees,” he said.

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Jane Turgut said they had benefited a lot from the kitty through bursaries and development projects.

“I have two students who are in day schools and our MP Justice Kemei has paid fees to all day scholars through NG-CDF. If we say CDF should cease to exist, we are burdening parents with school fees,” Turgut said.

Joseph Malel of Kokwet in Kipkelion West Constituency said the decision by the High court was uncalled for and urged MPs to be transparent in the distribution of funds.

“Our members of Parliament should ensure transparency and equitable distribution and not sideline other areas,” Malel said.

But Caroline Cherotich, a university graduate from Kaplutiet in Kabianga, said MPs should focus on their legislative duties instead of getting involved in development projects.

“Some of the MPs are partisan in the disbursement of funds. They give funds to their cronies and leave out those who did not support them during campaigns. The High Court ruling was a good decision,” Cherotich said.

She said the aim is to reduce government expenditure.

Cherotich argues that abolishing the NG-CDF would help streamline government functions and address Kenya’s pressing debt issue.

Emurua Dikiir MP Johanna Ngeno urged Kenyans to protect the kitty to ensure sustained development.

Speaking at Kapkisiara Girls High school in Bureti Sub-County during a prayer rally for KCSE exam candidates last Sunday, Ngeno said the fund had helped many poor households to pay school fees in addition to upgrading learning infrastructure across the country.

“Majority of us are beneficiaries of bursaries of this kitty and you can clearly see what the fund has done in paying school fees and upgrading learning infrastructure. Any talk about abolishing NG-CDF is ill-intended,” Ngeno said.

MPs have vowed to challenge the ruling which declared the fund unconstitutional.

The National Assembly, in a statement released on Friday after the court ruling, said its legal team had asked for a copy of the judgement and court proceedings and would contest the decision at the Court of Appeal.

“In the appeal, the National Assembly intends to challenge all the findings of the High Court with regard to the constitutionality of the NG-CDF Act 2015,” read the statement.

In their ruling, the three judge-bench made up of Justices Kanyi Kimondo, Roselyne Aburili and Mugure Thande, granted MPs about two years to finish pending projects before NG-CDF ceases to exist at midnight on June 30, 2026.

The National Assembly said it will also be seeking, a “stay of the declaration of the unconstitutionality of the NG-CDF Act, pending the hearing and determination of the intended Appeal”.

The judgement on Friday also ruled that the Act violates the principles of devolution.

The judges found that the CDF led to duplication of activities and encroached on the functions that the Constitution exclusively grants to county governments, and bore all the hallmarks of creating confusion in both levels of government.

It also established that the kitty violates the doctrine of separation of powers and runs afoul of the principle of separation of powers, adding that MPs have no powers to undertake development projects and that their role exclusively remains representation, legislation and oversight.

The petition against NG-CDF was filed in 2016 by Katiba Institute and other petitioners who challenged the Fund on grounds that it violates the principles of Public Finance and breached the doctrine of separation of powers among others.