MPs inched closer to amending the Constitution to entrench the Sh44 billion CDF after Parliament formed a joint committee to spearhead the process.
The National Assembly and the Senate have appointed an 18-member Joint Parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee on the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2022.
The Bill seeks to entrench the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF) in the Constitution.
The formation of the team follows the tabling of the Bill to amend the Constitution in the fight to retain the NG-CDF after the Supreme Court declared the kitty unconstitutional.
If approved, constituencies will be entitled to at least five per cent of the total annual revenue due to the national government.
Currently, the law sets aside 2.5 per cent of the total revenue raised nationally to be shared among the constituencies.
The Supreme Court in August ruled that the CDF Act, 2013 violates the principle of separation of powers, a ruling that took the kitty from lawmakers, occasioning protests from MPs.
But the lawmakers have dismissed the Supreme Court ruling, arguing the current fund is being implemented under a new law—NG-CDF, 2015-and not the CDF Act, 2013, which was declared unconstitutional.
The constitutional amendment Bill co-sponsored by Matungulu MP Stephen Mule and his Gichugu counterpart Robert Gichumu further seeks to entrench the National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF) and establish the Senate Oversight Fund, and the Economic Stimulus and Empowerment Fund in the Constitution.
