Governors in new push to take over CDF billions

Governors have supported the High Court decision declaring the Constituency Development Fund unconstitutional and Thursday proposed that the over Sh31 billion annual allocation now be put under the management of counties.

They said public finances should only be shared out between the national and county governments and the Constitution does not allow MPs to manage the fund which came into being before the advent of devolution. According to them, the roles of MPs should be restricted to representation, oversight and legislation.

“If we are true to the Constitution, CDF should be managed at the county level,” said Council of Governors chairman Isaac Ruto on the sidelines of the ongoing Governors’ Summit in Naivasha. “There is no place for MPs in revenue distribution.”

The conference hosted by Nation Media Group and its partners, Kenya Power, KPMG, Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Kenya Revenue Authority, Kenya Commercial Bank, Kenya Association of Manufacturers, Toyota Kenya, Mt Kenya University and Equip Africa, ends today.

The Bomet governor was referring to last week’s High Court ruling which declared the Constituency Development Fund unconstitutional and which directed Parliament to align the fund with the Supreme Law.

MPs have since been up in arms over the ruling, saying they would do everything within their power to maintain control over the money. They have argued that CDF was managed under the national government but delegated to them for implementation and they will not let it go.

DISCUSS THE HIGH COURT RULING

The Speaker of the National Assembly, Mr Justin Muturi, had Thursday called an informal meeting of members, known as a Kamukunji, to discuss the high court ruling.

While addressing colleagues at the two-day summit during which former Ghanaian president John Kufuor was chief guest, Mr Ruto commended the Judiciary for the decision.

“Although we did not go to court, we agree with the decision,” he said and described the Judiciary as bold and an anchor of stability.

“MPs should deploy their energies to pass laws that help devolution, not titles,” said Mr Ruto as he took a swipe at legislators for passing a law stripping governors of their title “Your Excellency” and Members of County Assemblies (MCAs) of their title “Honourable”.

Governors Jack Ranguma (Kisumu), Issa Timamy (Lamu), Ahmed Abdullahi (wajir), Moses Akaranga (Vihiga), John Mruttu (Taita Taveta) and Kisii Deputy governor Joash Maangi also supporting the court ruling. However, they indicated that MPs can be involved in constituency development through county structures.

“It is a violation of the Constitution for MPs to manage CDF. The fund should be managed by the counties. You cannot be the same person to make and implement laws,” said Mr Ranguma.

Mr Abdullahi said CDF violated the principle of separation of powers and advised that the fund be channelled to sub-county units. According to him, the money can be used to fund both national and county government functions.

“It has been a source of instability and fights between leaders in the counties due to duplication,” said Mr Abdullahi who chairs the Council of Governors’ committee on finance.

And Mr Timamy said: “This is not a fight between governors and MPs but we must uphold the law. You cannot be overseers and implementers and at the same time.”

WITHIN THE CONSTITUTION

According to Mr Mruttu, devolution of funds must be done within the confines of the Constitution.

“If funds will target devolved functions, then it is my belief that they must be channelled through county governments,” he said.

Mr Akaranga said CDF should be sent to county governments for distribution and MPs can give their recommendations directly to the governors or through MCAs.

Besides governance, other issues discussed during the two-day meeting included investments and the state of devolution two years since the governors took office.

Governors cited expansion of agriculture, infrastructure, improved medical care, street-lighting and greater participation by the people in governance and decision speaking as some of the gains of devolution.

The governors have in recent weeks been on the spot after a World Bank report indicated that most of them spent huge sums of money on salaries and other recurrent expenses and only a small fraction of their allocations of development.

However yesterday, they criticised the findings saying they were inaccurate. According to Mr Ruto, no county had spent less than 30 per cent of its allocation on development.

The World Bank report had said that some counties like Mombasa had spent one per cent, while others like Nairobi, Kiambu among others, had spent about 10 per cent on development.

But the governors accused the media of “unwarranted criticism” of counties. “This has cast aspersions where none were needed and brought doubts into the minds of Kenyans whose goodwill is needed for devolution to thrive,” said the council.

Mr Ruto said some counties received their allocations for development as late as March last year (three months to the end of the financial year). He also blamed the delay in spending on development on elaborate procurement rules. According to him, delays in delivering laptops to children were caused by procurement wrangles.