NG-CDF has opened up rural areas, we can’t scrap it off - MP

Suna West MP Peter Masara has told off leaders proposing the removal of constituency kitties.

The National Government Constituency Development Fund has brought tangible development, he said.

For the sake of majority of Kenyans, the NG-CDF should not be scrapped off.

“The board and the fund has interests of Kenyans at heart, especially in rural areas, since the kitty has opened up far-flung areas where government funds never reach,” Masara said.

Since its inception in 2003, CDF has done even more than devolved funds, which came with county governments in 2013. 

“If you walk in every corner of the country, you can easily find projects started by the kitties, even when health and roads were moved to county governments,” he said.

The move by legislators proposing its removal is therefore not in the interest of citizens. 

Masara was speaking at St Peter’s Maweni Girls secondary school in Wasimbete, a new institution started using the fund.

The school is close to the Kenya-Tanzania border.

It is the only all-girls’ secondary school in the area, which has not had one since independence.

Learners who did not wish to join a mixed secondary school had to travel over 25 kilometers.

“We have started the school and already we have opened a road to the institution and plans for bringing electricity are underway. This could not happen without the kitty,” the MP said.

Kenya Secondary School Heads Association chairman in Suna West Jackton Owuor, who is the principal of St Peter’s Abwao school said the kitty has helped improve infrastructure in learning institutions.

The kitty has been used to start and support 29 primary and secondary schools in the constituency since 2017.

It has also given institutions a lifeline, after years of neglect. 

In a bid to reduce government expenditure, nominated Senator Tabitha Mutinda proposed the abolition of NG-CDF as an austerity measure.

Mutinda said this will help streamline government functions and address the country's pressing debt issues, because the kitty and county government are duplicating development functions.

Redirecting the funds allocated to NG-CDF towards debt repayment would be a prudent financial move, the senator said. 

Both levels of governments can do NG-CDF work without corruption and complexities associated with it, Mutinda added.