MPs meet to discuss future of CDF
What you need to know:
- Legislators meet to explore options following a High Court ruling on the Fund.
- The High Court gave a grace period of one year during which the fund would either be wound up or changed to comply with Constitutional requirements.
National Assembly members are currently meeting to discuss possible ways of addressing the constitutional issues facing the Constituency Development Fund.
The one-day retreat taking place at the Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi is meant to explore options to prevent the fund from being abolished following a High Court ruling that found it unconstitutional.
The High Court said it was a duplication of state funds, was passed without reference from the Senate, interfered with the division of revenue between the national and county governments and presented issues of separation of powers because its running involves MPs.
The High Court gave a grace period of one year during which the fund would either be wound up or changed to comply with constitutional requirements.
But a legal team representing MPs and the CDF Board that is set to contest the ruling at the Court of Appeal next week argues that the constitutional test cited by the court was based on a misinterpretation of facts and of the law.
ALIGN THE ACT
The proposals made include amending the CDF Act to address the constitutional issues raised by the Court, with an option to align the Act to the Constitution by amending Article 206.
Another suggestion is to make the fund a conditional grant from the national government.
Constitutional lawyer Wachira Maina has told the MPs that they cannot ignore the constitutional issues raised by the Court.
“I have a lot of sympathy for (the) CDF because it is a good thing, but there are important constitutional questions that need to be settled,” he said.
He told the legislators that they can either abolish the CDF or end their role in it. He has also suggested renaming the CDF as the National Government Constituency Development and restricting it to national government functions under Schedule 4.
Kiharu MP Irungu Kangata, however, said the CDF issue is more of a political than a legal problem.
MORE MONEY FOR CDF
Moses Lessonet, the chairman of the National Assembly’s CDF Committee, said members expected to agree by the end of the day on the way forward for the fund.
The allocation to the CDF has recently increased following lobbying from MPs. In the current financial year, the National Treasury allocated Sh33 billion, an unprecedented increase from the previous allocation of Sh23 billion.
MPs are lobbying to have the allocation further increased to Sh36 billion in the 2015/2016 financial year.
In total, Sh172 billion has been allocated to the the CDF over the past 11 years.
Mr Lessonet said despite the High Court ruling, the fund was still valid and could be scrapped. He argued that doing so would disrupt projects already being supported by the fund, such as the bursary programme.
“Despite the court ruling, as MPs we have to do all that is necessary to ensure CDF continues to flow,” he said.
The lawyers representing the MPs and the CDF Board intend to seek a stay of the High Court ruling until their appeal is determined by the Court of Appeal or an extension of the time given by the High Court to allow them to align the CDF Act to the Constitution.