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"id": 195874,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/195874/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Oparanya",
"speaker_title": "The Minister of State for Planning, National Development and Vision 2030",
"speaker": {
"id": 201,
"legal_name": "Wycliffe Ambetsa Oparanya",
"slug": "wycliffe-oparanya"
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"content": " Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move:- THAT, pursuant to Section 5 of the Constituencies Development Fund (Amendment) Act, 2007, this House approves the following as Members of the Board of the Constituencies Development Fund; Under Section 5(3)(a), the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Planning, National Development and Vision 2030; Under Section 5(3)(b), the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance; Under Section 5(3)(c), the Clerk of the National Assembly; Under Section 5(3)(d), the Attorney General; Under Section 5(3)(e):- (1) Eng. Joel Muthunga Wanyoike (Representing the Institute of Engineers of Kenya); (2) Ms. Jennipher N. Barasa (Representing the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry); (3) Mr. Lawrence Kahindi Majali (Representing the Kenya National Union of Teachers); (4) Rt. Rev. Bishop Martin Kivuva (Representing the Kenya Episcopal Conference); (5) Ms. Maryam Sheikh Abdikadir (Representing the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims); (6) Ms. Rebecca Metto Kosgei (Representing the National Council of Churches of Kenya); 670 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES April 24, 2008 (7) Mr. Benson Okundi (Representing the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya); Under Section 5(3)(f):- (i) Dr. John Wamakonjio; (ii) Mr. Simon Kiprono Chelugui; (iii) Mr. Omar Jibril Mohamed; (iv) Mr. James Oloo Ogundo; Under Section 5(5), Ms. Janet Mang'era (Kenya Episcopal Conference). The Board has been formed in accordance with the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) (Amendment) 2007, which was passed by the Ninth Parliament. This Board shall be a body corporate and it replaces the National Management Committee which has been running the CDF since its inception. The Board, once formed, shall have the mandate to approve all funding of all project proposals from Constituencies Fund Committees. What I am saying is that members are expected to come up with project proposals. I am requesting that, that should be done very soon. As soon as that Board is in place, it shall approve all the proposals from the Members of Parliament before they get funding. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, however, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, last year, out of the last allocation of CDF worth Kshs10.1 billion, only Kshs2.5 billion was released to the constituencies. We still have a balance. It is awaiting the formation of the Board. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, you are aware that CDF was established through the CDF Act, 2003. It was stipulated that a minimum of 2.5 per cent of all Government ordinary revenue collected in every financial year be disbursed to the constituencies. Each constituency receives a share comprising of three-quarters of the Government ordinary revenue divided equally, and the other quarter is divided based on the National Poverty Index, which is multiplied by the constituency poverty index. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, since its inception in 2003/2004 up to 2006/2007 financial years, a total of Kshs24,204,000 has been disbursed to the constituencies as follows:- Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, in 2003/2004, we got Kshs1.26 billion. In 2004/2005, we got Kshs5.46 billion. In 2005/2006, we got Kshs7.446 billion. In 2006/2007, we got Kshs10.038 billion, thus making a total of Kshs24.204 billion. In 2007/2008, we got a total allocation of Kshs10.1 billion. But, as I stated earlier, Kshs2.5 billion was released to the National Management Committee. 37 constituencies received half of the allocation amounting to 0.86 billion, while 130 constituencies received a quarter of the allocation, amounting to Kshs1.5 billion. So, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have a balance of Kshs7.6 billion which is awaiting to be released to the constituencies. So far, 190 elected Members of Parliament have constituted their CDF Committees, while 20 constituencies are yet to submit their list. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have noted that, at the moment, we have a around Kshs3 billion which is held within accounts of various constituencies. Since the formation of the CDF, there have been a lot of challenges. It is because of those challenges that we thought it was necessary to amend the CDF Act, 2003. I am aware that there have been various complaints. Even when you look at the amendments, which I think were done in a hurry when the House was nearly being dissolved. We will need to look at the amendment again. I would like to request hon. Members that, through the CDF Parliamentary Committee, to make their proposals to make the Act workable without problems. Hon. Members, you are aware that CDF resources have now emerged as a major form of devolved funds for the development of the entire country at the community level. Although faced April 24, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 671 with teething problems, particularly related to the management and, in some few cases, duplication and wastage of resources, overall, the CDF has been widely lauded as being instrumental for development at the grassroots level. However, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have noted some of the challenges that are there. I want to bring them to the attention of hon. Members. One, we have noted that there is low utilization of completed facilities such as health centres and police posts. We put up those facilities and the Government is not able to provide staff to operationalize them. That is a challenge that we have to face as a Government and as a country. Then, there are poor linkages and co-ordination between the CDF accounting managers, CDF Committees at the constituencies and district departmental heads. There has been a lot of complaints that some CDF account managers behave as managers and not as accountants. There has also been a problem of identification and implementation of some of the projects. It has been found out that most of the Government departmental heads are, in most cases, reluctant to help in the identification and implementation of some of the projects. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, sometimes, it has been found out that the committees at the constituency level spread their resources very thinly so that the impact is usually not there. We have also noted that, in some cases, there is non-adherence to the laid down Government procedures and regulations mainly concerning procurement. We have also noted that there are difficulties in management, especially during transition between outgoing and incoming Members of Parliament. I have got quite a number of reports on that issue. We have noted that there is weak monitoring and evaluation which, if not well done, could have quite a number of irregularities not being noted during the implementation of the project. So, it is important, on that aspect, that Members do provide enough funds under your project proposals, so that you have enough money for monitoring and evaluation at the committee level. We have also noted that there is low utilisation of the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) money. As I pointed out earlier, at the moment we have about Kshs3 billion \"sitting\" in bank accounts of various constituencies, which have not been used. It is important that you have a effective committees and controls in place to ensure that funds are utilised as soon as they are released to the constituencies. To address these emerging concerns and streamline the use of CDF resources, Parliament amended the Constituencies Development Fund Act, 2003 leading to a new Constituencies Development Fund (Amendment) Act, 2007. Under this Act, you will notice that some of the issues that I have raised have been addressed, but not all of them. That is why I said that we need to look at the Act once again and keep on improving it. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, to ensure that the CDF funds meet the intended objectives, we at the Ministry of Planning, National Development and Vision 2030, need to carry out some reforms. One of the reforms is that we will liaise with the new board, which will be formed, to ensure that there are regular audits of all the projects money disbursed to the constituencies. We are thinking of having an audit unit at every district level, so that they are able to monitor the funds and advise on the implementation of the projects. We will encourage the hon. Members to computerise the CDF offices. I know that most of the hon. Members who were here last time, have built CDF offices. One of the reforms that we are going to undertake is to make sure that those offices are computerised. The board should also computerise its offices, so that there is linkage, and information flows very easily and as quickly as possible. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we also intend to look at the role of Members of Parliament. You are aware that we have been criticised a lot over the management of the Fund. It is not true that we 672 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES April 24, 2008 manage this Fund the way want. So, we are going to look at the role of the Member of Parliament as regards the identification and implementation of some of the projects, and generally the set-up of the CDF Committee. We are also going to come up with clear duties of the Accounts Manager, so that there are no conflicts between the Member of Parliament, the CDF Committee and the Accounts Manager. We are also going to regularise, or come up with, the ways in which funds are going to be disbursed to the constituencies. As I mentioned, there is Kshs3 billion lying in accounts; it is doing nothing. May be, we may insist that before you get the next disbursement you must have spent all the funds released to the constituency previously and you must account for those funds before you get another disbursement."
}