Parliament members from the Azimio and Kenya Kwanza political affiliations have threatened to censure Treasury Cabinet Secretary (CS) Prof. Njuguna Ndung’u, accusing him of failing to release the National Government Constituency Development Funds (NG-CDF).
In a joint statement released within the parliamentary premises, the lawmakers accused President William Ruto’s administration of employing technicalities to delay the release of funds since the commencement of the current financial year.
Speaking at Parliament grounds on Tuesday, the MPs led by Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo, expressed their concern that the exchequer’s hesitation to release the funds jeopardizes the education of hundreds of thousands of students who depend on the bursary for their schooling expenses.
“No single cent has been dispersed in this respect with the consequence that pupils and students are stranded all over the country. CDF allocation should be Ksh.63 billion, we should have received at least 75% of the money by now which is around Ksh.43 billion, but to date, we haven’t received anything despite some utterances that you may have heard elsewhere,” said Amollo.
Otiende Amollo mentioned that MPs are considering calling for a special sitting to commence the removal process of Treasury CS Ndungu and orchestrate the dismissal of NG-CDF Chief Executive Officer Yusuf Mbuno.
MPs Fault Proposed Amendments to NG-CDF Act
Dismissing a government memo asserting that NG-CDF money cannot be released due to proposed amendments to the NG-CDF Act, the MPs labeled the information as “misguided, unlawful, and improper.”
The lawmakers also raised questions about why the amendments were being introduced in the third quarter of the 2023/2024 financial year, especially when they only impacted less than six percent of NG-CDF funds.
“These amendments should have been considered in the 2024/25 financial year starting this year in July…nonetheless, as a bipartisan team comprising members from both sides, we demand the entire allocation of CDF be released within seven days as is due,” added Amollo.
Kabuchai MP Majimbo Kalasinga, on his part, highlighted that the Treasury made a mistake when it assured Speaker Wetangula that the money would be released by December 20, 2023. He criticized the treasury for reallocating funds designated for the CDF kitty to another ministry, especially amid the predicament of students who are set to resume school this week.
7-Day Ultimatum
“Schools have no classes and they are dependent on the release of these funds to construct new ones. Children have also reported back to school and are expecting to benefit from the bursaries which unfortunately have not been released from the beginning of this financial year up to now,” he said.
Adding: “Why is money being dispersed to other government entities and yet NG-CDF that helps the vulnerable is not released? We don’t want stories, we want the money in our accounts today.”
The MPs demanded the release of the Sh63 billion within seven days, failure to which will result in the initiation of an ouster motion against the Treasury CS.
“We demand that the entire allocation the CDF must be released within 7 days as is due, if that is not done we will call for a special sitting of the House and draft an appropriate motion against the CS Treasury and the NG-CDF board or any other entity as we may determine at the time. We are tired of the back and forth between the Treasury and the CDF board. It’s time we take action.” The MPs said.
