Bid to merge women, youth, Uwezo funds

Member of Parliament are keen on controlling close to Sh1 billion from three funds, at a time when the constituency development fund faces uncertainty after courts declared it unconstitutional.

According to a Bill sponsored by Marakwet East MP Kangogo Bowen, three existing funds; the Uwezo fund, the Youth Enterprise Development Fund and the Women Fund, will be collapsed into one fund to be known as Uwezo Fund, which will be administered from the constituencies.

The Kenya Youth and Women (Uwezo Fund) Bill, which proposes that the fund starts running from the next financial year, proposes to have Woman Rep as patrons at the county level and MPs to serve in the same capacity at the constituency level.

It further proposes the establishment of the Uwezo Fund Board, consisting of seven members who shall hold office for three years.

“The board members will be eligible for reappointment for a further one term of three years except the chief executive officer. The relevant ministry will have the power to nominate public officers to act as the secretariat to the board,” are some of its provisions.

The proposed law also seeks to have the government pump in more money at the kitty’s inception to provide for wider coverage, since the total amount when the three funds are consolidated is Sh960 million, which when divided among the 290 constituencies comes to Sh3.3 million per constituency.

With reports of mismanagement of CDF entrusted to the MPs, and abandoned projects and outright theft across the constituencies, the push by lawmakers to manage the fund, will likely raise eyebrows.

The move may also be seen as strategic, in having a fund at their disposal as a tool for political influence, following a court ruling declaring the CDF unconstitutional, hence the fund may be abolished.