Harmonise these funds
What you need to know:
- Any attempt to wrest the funds from the MPs’ control will be fiercely resisted. Since all these levels of government purport to work for the people, a formula that eases this is crucial. The governors’ argument that the CDF undermines devolution is hardly convincing.
The governors’ call for the scrapping of the Constituency Development Fund will not endear them to MPs and many Kenyans, who see this as an effective tool for development. Through the CDF, numerous projects have been established in every corner of the country.
However, the leaders definitely have a point in the proposal contained in the latest biannual report of the Council of Governors. And it boils down to the need to harmonise the various funds operating in the devolved units.
Governors would prefer to have the CDF replaced with a ward development fund. In other words, members of county assemblies should play a more pivotal role in this.
UNDERMINES DEVOLUTION
Any attempt to wrest the funds from the MPs’ control will be fiercely resisted. Since all these levels of government purport to work for the people, a formula that eases this is crucial. The governors’ argument that the CDF undermines devolution is hardly convincing.
What is true, though, is that development funds are reaching the counties through different channels, creating a possibility of misuse and duplication of projects.
A mechanism through which all these efforts can be documented, monitored, and properly coordinated is certainly required.
