Coast, North Eastern get biggest CDF share

Coast and North Eastern regions have received the largest amount of the Sh21.9 billion Constituency Development Fund to be shared out this year.

Kinango constituency in Kwale County — which has 209,565 people — got the largest share of Sh170.9 million.

But the least amount also went to a constituency at the Coast, Lamu East, which got Sh30.5 million. It has just 18,841 people.

The Ministry of Devolution and Planning used the poverty index and population figures for the 290 constituencies to determine how the money will be shared out.

The amount required to move the poor above the poverty line was estimated based on the poverty gap for each constituency.

The formula for sharing the money is contained in the CDF Act, 2013 which came into force after the March 4 election.

Other major recipients of this year’s allocation were Mandera South (Sh159.5 million), Magarini (Sh149.4 million), Turkana West (Sh143.3 million), Kilifi North (Sh125.3) and Lunga Lunga ( Sh124.4 million).

Only 18 constituencies got more than Sh100 million. Among these were Ganze, Kisauni and Malindi at the Coast; Mandera North, Mandera West, Banissa, Lafey and Wajir North in North Eastern; Turkana North in Rift Valley; Kitui South and Makueni in Eastern; and Kanduyi in Western regions.

The allocation was based on a new formula which rates the poverty indicator highly. Under the new criteria, budgetary allocation for each constituency is determined after considering the population, the poverty index, land area, basic equal share and fiscal responsibility.

This is in line with Article 217 of the Constitution which requires that money from the fund be allocated on the basis of equitable distribution of resources.

The new formula saw Saku, Mogotio, Wundanyi, Keiyo North, Kangema, Tetu, Mwatate, Mukurweini and Othaya constituencies fall among the recipients with the lowest allocation.

They received between Sh30 million and 50.2 million.

CDF represents 2.5 per cent of the government’s ordinary revenue. Ninety five per cent of the money is distributed directly to constituencies, while a maximum of five per cent is retained by the CDF Board for administration.

Planning Principal Secretary Peter Magiti and a team from the Devolution Ministry and the CDF Board presented a schedule showing how the funds were allocated to the parliamentary committee on CDF Wednesday.

Committee chairman Moses Lessonet proceeded to table the list before Parliament in the afternoon session.

The shareable fund according to the schedule prepared by the Commission on Revenue Allocation was Sh20.8 billion.

A balance of about Sh1.3 billion from the previous financial year’s allocation is also expected to be included in the allocation.

The total amount allocated to the 290 constituents based on the poverty index was Sh4.2 billion, while Sh9.4 billion was based on population.

Another Sh1.7 billion was shared out based on land area, Sh .2 billion on basic equal share and Sh417.5 million on fiscal responsibility.

The CDF board secretariat has already released guidelines for CDF and project management committees in line with the CDF Act which introduced major changes in the management of the fund.

In a circular to all fund account managers and secretaries, the board outlined the roles to be played by the district Treasury, accountants and signatories to the CDF accounts.

According to the circular dated July 17, the District Treasury will continue to execute CDF financial operations. All payments will be processed and effected in accordance with government financial regulations.

The district accountants remain as mandatory signatories to the CDF accounts. They will also be the custodians of all CDF financial records and cheque books.

They will be solely responsible for opening a CDF account in a bank approved by the Cabinet Secretary and communicated by the board.

The law requires every constituency to maintain only one bank account in the name of the constituency where all the funds allocated to it shall be kept.

The board also released transitional provisions for sharing the money in the newly-created constituencies. However, funds for projects in the newly-created constituencies will continue to be disbursed through the bank account of the original constituency.

New constituencies

Signatories to the bank account shared by the new constituencies shall be the district accountants and the fund account managers in charge of the original constituency, and at least one nominee from the CDF committee resulting from the split of the parent constituency.

The board has made it clear that the bank account of the parent constituency will be used for disbursement of funds for the financial year 2012/203 and shall be closed after all such funds have been disbursed to project management committees and upon preparation of bank reconciliation statements and other relevant financial records.