CDF fund should not a bargaining tool for political gain, transparency and be purposely objective - should be scrapped or amendments

 When the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) was introduced in 2003, it promised to make the Legislature financially independent of the president and to bring development closer to the people. But the Fund has been plagued by allegations of corruption and there is little evidence that it has significantly improved service provision at the constituency level. So is it time to get rid of the CDF? What is the Way forward?

The battle to wrestle the Constituency Development Fund from the control of legislators is set for a new phase as MPs plot a new strategy to defeat the court order.

Last Year A bench of five judges led by Chief Justice Martha Koome ruled out that the CDF Act, 2013 violates the principle of separation of powers, hence is unconstitutional.

This came as a major win for critics, who have come together under a group of NGOs led by The Institute for Social Accountability (Tisa).

But newly elected MPs have already dismissed the significance of the Supreme Court ruling on grounds that the current fund is being implemented under a new law--National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF)--and not the one that was declared unconstitutional.

However, the fight is far from being won since even the NG-CDF Will be challenged in court and the direction of this cases will be known in coming months or years at the corridor of justice when a three-judge bench of the High Court gives directions on a fresh case contesting the passage of the NG-CDF Act, 2015.

Currently each constituency almost receives at least Sh137 million every year and the legislators have used the kitty for community development projects.

Tisa has been fighting the CDF since May 2016 on grounds that it infringes on the doctrine of separation of powers since by administering the CDF, legislators would be doing the job of the executive.

The CDF Act, 2013 was first declared unconstitutional in 2015 but Parliament appealed the case.

Three judges of the Court of Appeal agreed with the High Court's findings that the CDF was not in line with the Constitution and gave the National Assembly 12 months to align it with the supreme law.

Parliament then amended the Act and renamed it NG-CDF in a bid to comply with the Appeal Court ruling.

Undoubtedly, CDF fund is a significant program that if we'll catered, managed can transform abundantly - take an example in my county - Wajir it has really helped but the huge portion of the funds has no tangible effects on the lives of the voters. Across the six constituencies there is less to be proud of what the cdf funds have contributed. 

Today the funds become a tool for the mps to either influence or lure their political projections - it become a coffers of private monies expenditures where the area mp immensely use his power to use the funds in his wish -with closet bureaucracy within his manages whatever he wants to advance his needs.

On allocations of bursary it's crystal clear there are loopholes on the reimbursement of the funds - cry foul are reported - not uniformly distributed, nepotism, favourism, political vengeance some of the pillars gags transparency and fairness. 

Yes,many can argue of the bursary are given but the biggest opaqueness is higher learning institutions (universities and colleges students) are not getting worthy share of the funds - an issue that to be talked about and addressd effectively.

Another grey area is the formation of the cdf committees the mps heavenly set up a committee that he can fully dictate - This a leeway for his political agenda - ignites power controlled avenue. He lashes, empowers whoever (communities) he wants through development projects.

 in the recents year cdf allocation has a key target for the mps to swindle people, marginalize and run their dirty politics - creating havoc , disparities in the constituencies.

In recent years, there have been concerns about duplication of projects executed by both county governments and CDF kitties- conjoin collaboration of the mp and the governors - ambitious catered self contracts awards. 

A Bill sponsored by Majority and Minority leaders Kimani Ichung’wa and Opiyo Wandayi, respectively, further proposes to abolish constituency oversight committees.

The proposed The NG-CDF (Amendment) Bill, 2023, if approved, would see an end to MPs using the cash on all functions reserved -A proposed law provides that CDF cash will be exclusively used on projects that fall within the mandate of the national government.

The NG-CDF (Amendment) Bill, 2023, if approved, would see an end to within the exclusive functions of the national government as provided in the Constitution,” the Bill reads

The new piece of legislation seeks to repeal sections of the law .

The NG-CDF (Amendment) Bill, 2023, if approved, would see an end to MPs using the cash on all functions reserved for county governments- Presently, the committees have the MP and not more than other four persons appointed by the MP as members.

Accountability

But what of corruption and accountability — the key problem that CDF was intended to tackle? it's no more back in the heydays when MPs no longer queue outside State House to collect their brown paper bag before they head back to their constituencies on Fridays.

By enabling MPs to meet the expectations of their constituents, the CDF has reduced the pressure on them to engage in corruption and this can only be a good thing. But this does not appear to have had much of an impact on the level of corruption itself. If anything, the creation of the CDF seems to have simply changed the location of corruption, rather than eliminating it.

In 2009, a special investigation conducted by the National Assembly found that 16 per cent of the funds (Sh3.2 billion) dispersed between 2007 and 2009 could not be accounted for. Tsubura notes that a report by the National Taxpayers Association came to a similar conclusion, finding that 16 per cent of funds in the 34 constituencies that it sampled ‘had either been uneconomically utilised, wasted or remained unaccounted for.

This is not to say that all MPs have used their funds poorly. Many welcomed the opportunity to build a reputation based on competent CDF management and positive examples of ‘CDF stars”, such as Peter Kenneth, emerged and have been widely cited. However, it is unclear that the average MP behaved any better under Kibaki than under Moi.

This is a sad tale , because the CDF is expensive. When it was introduced most government expenditure in Kenya was heavily centralised, and so decentralising 2.5 per cent went some way to redressing this imbalance. But this picture has changed radically over the past decade. The vast sums that are now devolved to the county level mean that there is a real danger that if devolution is fully implemented, the capacity of the central government will be compromised. Given this, the CDF either needs to shape up or ship out.

To their credit, members of parliament who have recognised the need for change. The CDF Act of 2013 revised the way in which the CDF committee is selected, making them elected positions. The hope was that this would make CDF officials more accountable to citizens and reduce the power of MPs over the Fund. But although reform is much needed, the legislation was hopelessly ambiguous. Rather than specifying a clear process through which those elected at ward levels would have been guaranteed a position on the committee, the actual decision of which of the elected representatives to include has been left in the hands of MPs.

The new rules have also been undermined by patchy enforcement. In some constituencies, elections were not held especially electing committees WHY to favour the mp.

But it seems unlikely that the CDF will be scrapped in future even if it continues to fail to deliver in many areas. MPs want to expand the Fund, not end it, and it is still extremely popular. Having received so little from their political system for so many years, it is easy to understand why ordinary voters are reluctant to part ways with a scheme that has, at least rhetorically, brought development closer to the people. Given this, critics of the Fund are likely to be most effective if they focus on how to improve it, rather than how to remove it- for the funds to make a game changer in our Nation we need to go beyond an interest oriented leadership to ensure everyone's life is changed.

Constitutionally wanjiku were given enough power to say their way - that is why it's paramount to have public participation - thus for better governance we need to include all, in Wajir county just like another region cdf allocation and disbursement it will be prudent to have share of opinion on how to manage and formation of any committee- to scrap not the best ideal but to add (amendments)on the existing laws to have friendly, progressive and long lasting framework - to strengthen unity and development in our county.

God bless Wajir county.