National Assembly in another attempt to hire CDF chief executive

The National Assembly will for the second time in less than three years try to recruit a substantive chief executive officer of the National Government-Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) board as it vets the latest nominee picked by the National Treasury on Thursday.

The CEO of the board is the accounting officer of the fund and with the mandate to oversee billions of shillings allocated to the 290 constituencies every year.

The fund was established in 2003 and amended in 2015 to align it with the 2010 constitution after its constitutionality was challenged in court.

The NG-CDF Act provides that at least 2.5 per cent of the national government’s revenue collected each year is allocated to the fund. In the current financial year, Sh39 billion has been allocated to the constituencies with each getting an equal share of Sh123 million.

IMBALANCES

The aim of the fund is to redress the imbalances in regional development occasioned by the policy of marginalisation that has been practised by successive regimes since independence in 1963s.

In a communication to the National Assembly, Speaker Justin Muturi announced that National Treasury CS Ukur Yatani had picked Prof Mohamed Abdille to replace Mr Yusuf Mbuno who has controversially served the board for the last 11 years.

Picked in 2011 as the acting CEO, Mr Mbuno replaced Ms Agnes Odhiambo, who was appointed Controller of Budget (CoB) serving until her eight-year term ended in August last year.

According to the NG-CDF Act, the House must vet and either approve or reject Prof Abdille within 14 days of the Speaker’s communication.

If he is approved, he will be appointed by Mr Yatani as the substantive CEO. However, it may not be smooth-sailing for Prof Abdille.

Immediately Mr Muturi mentioned Prof Abdille as the person nominated to become the new CEO of the NG-CDF board, his voice was drowned in the chants of “No!” “No!” from members, which was a sign of MPs’ opposition to his nomination.

REJECTED
However, Mr Muturi would go on to read the communication and directed that the House committee on NG-CDF vets the nominee and file a report within two weeks, reminding the shouting MPs that they had the final say who gets appointed.

Igembe North MP Maoka Maore chairs the NG-CDF select committee.
“The consequence of your actions is that this nominee will be deemed to have been approved after 14 days of this notification. It is only until this nominee goes through the necessary procedure of vetting that you can either approve or reject his nomination,” Mr Muturi said.

In the event that the MPs reject Prof Abdille, Mr Mbuno will continue to act, a move that will be in violation of a circular issued by Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua, which directs that CEOs of State corporations can only serve for not more than two terms of three years each.

In March 2017, the MPs rejected Mr Wilfred Buyema, who had been nominated for the position by the then Devolution Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri.

Mr Buyema was rejected on grounds that the recruitment was not transparent and that the board was not fully constituted, paving the way for Mr Mbuno to continue acting.

FILED PETITION
In September 2017, activist Okiya Omutatah filed a petition in court to have Mr Mbuno’s tenure terminated noting that his six-year term in office ended on September 1, 2017, as per Kinyua’s directive.
About 29 applications were received by the board following an advert on December 17, 2019, with seven among them Prof Abdille and Mr Mbuno being shortlisted.

Mr Mbuno is said to have emerged the top but was knocked out on account of having acted beyond the required period, leaving Prof Abdille, who came second to be nominated.

According to the report of the National Assembly’s Special Funds Committee, since 2013/14 to 2017/18 financial years, the fund has received Sh163.56 billion against an allocation of Sh168.05 billion with Sh4.49 billion as pending releases.

The National Treasury disburses funds to the NG-CDF board on quarterly basis for onward release to the constituencies.

OBJECTIVES

However, poor administration of the fund may make it not realise the intended objectives.

Under the tenure of Mr Mbuno, monies have been disbursed to constituencies that do not even have proper budgets and procurement plans contrary to the law and could be the reason a majority of the MPs want to continue working with him.

The Special Funds Committee chaired by South Imenti MP Kathuri Murungi has consistently reminded the CDF board of what it needs to do.

“The NG-CDF board must issue an administrative circular directing fund account managers to comply with the provisions of the constitution, the Public Audit Act, the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act and the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act of 2015,” committee report says.