MPs plots to get CDF without breaking law

National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich. He appeared before the NGCDF committee on August 31, 2016. FILE PHOTO |

What you need to know:

  • The lawmakers are fighting to keep the kitty, which they have controlled for years.
  • Some MPs on Tuesday said they had not received the full allocation for the last financial year and demanded the money.

MPs on Tuesday plotted how to get an additional Sh14.2 billion for the National Government Constituency Development Fund and pushed Treasury to release the money.

Treasury CS Henry Rotich who appeared before the NGCDF committee requested for “a few days” to find ways of releasing the money to constituencies without circumventing a court ruling which ordered that the 290 constituencies receive no more than Sh25 billion.

“I am not going to discuss the issue because I need a legal opinion on how to achieve this without being seen to be circumventing the law,” he said.

There was heated debate as MPs demanded that Treasury releases the cash immediately.

It includes Sh4.2 billion that had not been disbursed to the kitty over the years and Sh10 billion, being the excess amount after Sh35 billion was released initially, before the court ruled on the matter.

The lawmakers are fighting to keep the kitty, which they have controlled for years.

Attempts to align the Fund with the national government appears not to have borne the desired fruits, and MPs being allowed to access only a fraction what was allocated in the 2016/17 financial year.

Some MPs on Tuesday said they had not received the full allocation for the last financial year and demanded the money.

Their anger was directed at NGCDF Board acting CEO Yusuf Mbuno, after Mr Rotich said the money had been released.

Journalists were ordered to leave the meeting when it got heated. It was not clear where the money had disappeared to.