Mathioya MP wants CDF funding to reflect population size

Mathioya MP Peter Kimari has asked the government to review CDF allocation formula saying the current one is discriminative.

Kimari said that some constituencies have fewer constituents yet receive similar amounts with others that are densely populated.

He cited the example of Garissa county that has six constituencies, all with a cumulative voter population of 132,000 while a single constituency like Juja has 106,000 voters.

This, he said, means that while Juja receives Sh104 million annually, Garissa county bags over Sh600 million yet both serve almost equal numbers of people.

“The formula needs to be reviewed so that it is not just based on the size of a constituency but also considers the population,” he said.

“We need that formula reviewed so that people from more populated areas do not feel disadvantaged,” the MP said.

Kimari was speaking at Wahundura Secondary School during the commissioning of a classrooms block that is being constructed by the NGCDF board on Thursday.

The NGCDF board chairman Robert Masese said the school was allocated the expansion project as it has a population of 600 students but operates on fewer facilities.

The school was founded in 1965 and its infrastructure is dilapidated, he said, and that the board came in to help upgrade it to provide a more conducive learning environment.

“This is a corporate social responsibility project of the CDF board intended to support the efforts of the constituency in developing learning infrastructure,” Masese said.

Masese said that the board had put measures including regular audits and monitoring to forestall incidences of misappropriation of funds in the constituencies.

Capacity building for staff on the need to uphold integrity in order for the resources to meet the needs intended for has also served to stem the incidences.

“But Kenyans need to know that majority of the incidences made public are just perceptions. When we go on the ground, there is not much truth found in them,” he said.

National CDF board CEO Yusuf Mbuno said the project is one of the many undertaken by the board to serve as an example on how projects should be implemented.

Every year, he said, the board undertakes similar projects in about 30 sampled constituencies which he said also goes a long way in helping to implement the government’s policy on ensuring 100 per cent primary to secondary schools transition.

About 83 per cent of the fund goes towards education and national security, he said.

(edited by O. Owino)