MPs fight Raila over NG-CDF stance

NG-CDF CEO Yusuf Mbuno, Kitutu Masaba MP Clive Gisairo and his Mvita counterpart Mohammed Machele at Mary Cliff primary school on Saturday/ BRIAN OTIENO

MPs led by Mvita's Mohamed Machele have pushed back against ODM leader Raila Odinga's call for stripping the NG-CDF from constituencies and instead giving it to governors to run.

The MPs said they respect Raila as the father of devolution, but will not allow him to deny Kenyans the benefits of the kitty. 

Many MPs countrywide say the same thing: we won’t give it up.

The NG-CDF Act has been declared unconstitutional by the courts, including the Supreme Court, on grounds of undermining devolution, county governments and the separation of powers. 

It is to cease operations by June 26, 2026, but MPs are trying to amend the constitution to entrench it, along with the Senate Oversight Fund and the National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF).

Speaking at Mary Cliff Primary in Tudor, the MPs said the fund has done well for residents in different parts of the country, so they are surprised some leaders want it gone.

“This NG-CDF is 2.5 per cent share allocation from the national government,” Machele said. “If it is removed, it will remain at the ministry. It will not go to the county.

“That means if a school like this has any problem, the headteacher has to go to Nairobi to get a solution, which will take ages,” Machele said.

He said the kitty can perform functions that are not devolved, including education and security, but at a faster rate and more effectively.

“We will not allow the removal of NG-CDF. In public participations, 95 per cent of the Kenyan people voted for its stay,” he said.

The Mvita MP said the battle has been politicised now after the fund’s years of success.

“The audit reports have recently increased in the last six months. Haven’t there been auditors in the last 20 years?” he asked, saying the funds help regular Kenyan citizens and not MPs.

Kitutu Masaba MP Clive Gisairo said the NG-CDF improves the lives of Kenyan children.

“If it were not for this NG-CDF this school (Mary Cliff Primary school) would have been shut down long time ago. The Health and Education ministries would have written letters that the classrooms here are condemned without giving a solution,” Gisairo said. 

“This would have forced parents to look for alternative schools, maybe far away from here, invoking transport costs.”

Some of the school’s classrooms had been condemned and set for demolition years back, but the NG-CDF board stepped in and constructed more classrooms to allow education to continue.

He said in Kitutu Masaba, more than 95 new classrooms have been built courtesy of the NG-CDF, improving education standards.

More than 134 primary schools and 64 secondary schools have benefitted from the NG-CDF in Kitutu Masaba, the MP said.

“So, we will not allow anyone to fight NG-CDF. Children from poor backgrounds get bursaries through NG-CDF and they get education just like their well-to-do counterparts,” he said.

Gisairo said he himself is a beneficiary of the NG-CDF because he comes from a poor family.

“My father was a watchman, and my mother a vegetable seller,” he said. “Today, I am an MP. Why don’t we give these children a chance to also become MPs? That is possible through education.”

He said although he respects his party leader Raila, he does not support his stance that the fund should be channeled to counties.

Raila, during the Devolution Conference in Homa Bay last week, renewed calls to overhaul the NG-CDF and the NGAAF, proposing that all funds managed under the two programmes be transferred to the counties.

He said this will enhance efficiency, strengthen devolution and improve service delivery.

Raila said the NG-CDF was introduced at a time when Kenyans were seeking equitable resource distribution under an imperial presidency that starved many regions of development funds.

“Most of the work was basically left to harambees. When you needed to build a school, harambee; a dispensary, harambee,” the former Prime Minister said. 

“But the system has since changed. We removed the patronage model, adopted devolution, created a constitutional commission to allocate resources and empowered Parliament on budgetary matters. In this new order, CDF is obsolete,” he said.

Gisairo, however, said Raila is misguided.

“Baba has a good legacy in this country. He has fought for the freedom we enjoy today. Those surrounding him, please, do not mislead him,” Gisairo said.

He said the respect Baba has built over the years can easily be eroded by bad advice.

“I speak as an ODM MP who respects Baba and sees him as the light of this country. Saying these funds should be channelled to counties is questionable.

“Let us first see what these governors have done for us before giving them more of our funds,” Gisairo said.

Matuga MP Kassim Tandaza said those who think the NG-CDF will go will be surprised.

“I can even bring in Kaya elders because of this matter, but I don’t want to do so,” he said.

Kaya elders are believed to have the power to curse people.

“Whether it is the father, the cousin or the nephew who is against the NG-CDF, they will go first,” Tandaza said. 

He said the kitty has brought a lot of benefits to the people at the grassroots.

Instant analysis:

Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has criticised the NG-CDF for distorting the role of MPs, saying their constitutional duty is to represent the people, legislate and oversee the national government, not to distribute bursaries or construct classrooms. MPs say they have little role in the fund, which they said is managed by committees and not MPs.