President William Ruto has asked MPs to adopt a whole-of-society approach in implementing provisions of the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (Amendment) Act which he assented to on Monday.
Speaking after signing the Bill into an Act of Parliament alongside the National Lottery Bill, Ruto said he was particularly excited about the NG-CDF amendments.
He said they now allow the government to work with MPs in every constituency to tackle two pressing matters.
“The matters of managing our environment because of the effects of climate change. We have to be deliberate in making sure that we engage a whole-of-society approach,” the President said.
“In making sure that we intervene in various spaces that will help us manage environmental degradation, management of our water towers, management of our wetlands, and mobilising the whole of society to intervene in that space that all of us in our three forces an existential threat, not just to Kenya, but to humanity.”
The NG-CDF Amendment Act allocates a maximum of 5 per cent of funds per constituency to climate change mitigation activities.
These include afforestation, reforestation, grassroot sensitization and tree seedling production.
The new law will also facilitate the introduction of a 3 per cent allocation of the NG-CDF in paying for utilities, costs, and maintenance of constituency digital hubs which are key in enabling the youth to acquire technological skills.
The President said MPs’ collaboration will also be key in attending to the very urgent and pressing matter of the youth whose bursaries allocation has been increased by 5 per cent.
“The education of our children is an investment in the future of our nation. We have increased the allocation for bursaries under the Constituencies Development Fund from 35 to 40 per cent. This will limit school drop-outs and increase enrollment, especially in drought-stricken parts of our country,” Ruto said.
The additional funding will supplement government efforts towards the reduction of illiteracy levels by increasing access to education and improving transition rates from primary to secondary schools.
The National Government Constituencies Development Fund (Amendment) Bill was the first to be co-sponsored by the Leader of the Majority Party Kimani Ichung’wah and the Leader of the Minority Party James Opiyo Wandayi.
The two sides of the House put aside their divergent political ideologies and passed the Bill published on April 24, 2023, to primarily address the rising demand for bursaries and elective competing needs not provided for under the original NG-CDF Act, 2015.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, Speaker of the National Assembly Moses Wetang’ula, Attorney General Justin Muturi, Solicitor General Shadrack Mose and Leader of Majority Kimani Ichungw’ah were among the leaders present during the signing of the Bill at State House, Nairobi.