A lawmaker has sought 100 per cent increase in budgetary allocation to the National Government Constituency Development Fund.
Butere MP Tindi Mwale wants the law setting up the fund changed so that CDF is calculated at five per cent of all the national government’s share of the revenue.
“Section 4 of the National Government Constituencies Development Fund Act is amended by deleting the phrase 2.5 per cent and substituting, therefore, the phrase 5 per cent,” the bill reads.
Mwale said the gist of the Bill is to increase the minimum share of national government revenue appropriated to the constituencies kitty.
The MP holds that more developments in the education, security and health sectors would be witnessed if the allocation to the kitty is doubled.
Based on the current share of Sh41 billion – factoring in the latest audited revenues - MPs would thus be in control of over Sh80 billion should the Bill be approved.
MPs have been advocating for an increased CDF kitty citing challenges with delayed exchequer releases by the National Treasury.
This followed the delayed disbursements of the allocation for the last and current financial years, which the government attributed to the cash constraints as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
As of today, each constituency is entitled to a maximum of Sh137 million, amounts which are set double should the new proposal sail through.
MPs have also been pushing to have exclusive control of their allocation to deny the National Treasury control of monies allocated to the kitty.
A separate Bill sponsored by CDF committee chairman Wafula Wamunyinyi (Kanduyi MP) seeks to provide that allocations to CDF are channelled directly to an operations account.
The amendments would allow expenditure of CDF cash even after the lapse of a financial year, unlike the current situation where such monies can only be allocated in supplementary estimates.
“The proposed amendment will establish structures for the efficient and prudent management of the fund,” the Kanduyi MP said.
The National Government Constituency Development Fund Board has equally been pushing for an increase in the percentage of the national budget set aside for constituencies.
The NG-CDF board's argument is that constituencies have many needs that cannot be met by the current allocation.
The handshake team had sought to have CDF recognised as an independent kitty domiciled in the Constitution.
The proposal is among those whose future lie in the appeal case aimed at resuscitating the Building Bridges Initiative.
Edited by Henry Makori
