'Parliament now a house of transaction,' claims Muturi on funds push

Justin Muturi.[Screen Grab]

Former Attorney General Justin Muturi has accused Parliament of becoming a "house of transaction" over its push to entrench development funds into the Constitution.

Muturi said the National Assembly's passage of the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2025, which seeks to anchor the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF), Senate Oversight Fund (SOF) and National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF), exposes the legislature's culture of bribery and self-interest.

"It was decided to put a sweetener, anchor CDF as one of the amendments to the Constitution, so that you amend articles 97 and 98. For it to pass the two-thirds gender rule, you have to put something that is going to attract every member from 290 single-member constituencies. Parliament has been reduced to a house of transaction," said Muturi on Wednesday, July 9, during an interview on Spice FM.

Muturi questioned why the Senate was pushing for SOF, calling it an abdication of its oversight role.

"So this thing about creating funds, it's misuse of taxpayers' money," noted Muturi.

He argued SOF would likely be used for personal gain and would not be accountable to the public.

Muturi, a former National Assembly speaker, said bursaries channelled through lawmakers, governors, county assemblies, the Ministry of Education and the president have failed to adequately support education.

"The CDF has no place after the promulgation because it has become a third tier of resource allocation. If the national government wants to abdicate its responsibility of building schools, offices for its administrators, let it say so," observed Muturi.

He traced the culture of personal enrichment through public resources back to the 1980s, when individuals close to power would appear at fundraisers with cash that exceeded their salaries, gaining praise as "development conscious leaders" from the president.

"They would donate, saying it's from me and my friends. These friends were close associates who got favours from the constituents, that's where the rain started beating us," explained Muturi.

Muturi added that entrenching NG-CDF, SOF and NGAAF in the Constitution undermines the separation of powers.

"Every devolved unit has to devolve services to the lowest level possible in a county. The principal separation of powers is infringed when a member of the legislature is involved in projects implementation," said Muturi.

The Senate, which has complained about exclusion in drafting the bill, is expected to debate the proposed constitutional amendments.

To amend the Constitution through a parliamentary initiative, the bill requires support from at least two-thirds of all members in both the National Assembly and the Senate before it can be enacted.