A joint MPs and senators sitting. At Sh32.97 billion, the Constituency Development Fund is 14.5pc of the Sh22 billion allocated to governors. Photo/FILE
What you need to know:
House team increases Constituency Development Fund by Sh5bn as their allowances rise.
The legislators will control Sh32.97 billion under CDF, up from Sh21.9 billion in the current year and Sh17 billion in 2012/13.
The MPs have long fought for more funds, saying the current allocation is not enough to cater for the growing needs in their constituents.
MPs top the list of beneficiaries in next year’s budget after a House team increased the allocation to the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) by Sh5 billion.
The Treasury had raised the allocation by Sh6 billion, but Parliament’s Budget and Appropriation Committee reviewed the CDF cash by Sh11 billion — representing a 50 per cent rise on the current year’s allocation. The legislators will control Sh32.97 billion under CDF, up from Sh21.9 billion in the current year and Sh17 billion in 2012/13.
“These resources should be used for improving infrastructure in public primary and secondary schools,” reads a section of the budget estimates report.
The MPs have long fought for more funds, saying the current allocation is not enough to cater for the growing needs in their constituents.
The additional cash will give the legislators more clout at the grassroots.
Their allowances are also set to increase by more than Sh1 billion to Sh4.12 billion after Parliament’s budget shot to Sh26.54 billion, up from the Sh19.2 billion provided by the Treasury.
The House committee cut the Judiciary’s budget by Sh1 billion to Sh17.5 billion, down from the Sh18.5 billion provided by the Treasury.
A study by UK-based Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority last year ranked Kenyan legislators as the second-highest paid in the world with earnings of more than Sh1 million per month.
At Sh32.97 billion, the CDF allocation is 14.5 per cent of the Sh226 billion that the Treasury has allocated governors.
Governors have been pushing for MPs to surrender the cash to the 47 devolved units but the legislators have resisted any attempt to wrestle the funds from their control.
The fund has been maintained at 2.5 per cent of the total ordinary revenue, with MPs pushing for the figure to be raised to 15 per cent so they can ostensibly implement more projects in their respective constituencies, a move that might force the legislators to amend the CDF Act.
CDF was introduced in 2003 by the 9th Parliament. The CDF Act provides that the government sets aside at least 2.5 per cent of its ordinary revenue for disbursement under the programme.
The MPs have also been pushing for the money to be released within the first quarter of the financial year so that they can complete projects in time.
Three quarters of the amount is divided equitably between Kenya’s 290 constituencies while the remaining one fourth is divided based on a poverty index.
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