Wetangula dismisses Raila's call for CDF to be surrendered to counties

National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula has responded to former Prime Minister Raila Odinga's push for Members of Parliament to surrender the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF) to the counties, saying it remains essential for grassroots and national development despite calls for its abolition.

Speaking during the launch of a newly constructed tuition block at St. Veronica Ranje R.C. Comprehensive School in Kanduyi Constituency, Wetangula said the fund has transformed the education sector over the past two decades by improving infrastructure and the quality of learning.

He noted that Parliament had anchored the fund in the Constitution.

“When the court ruled that CDF lacked a constitutional basis, this is the person we helped to introduce the bill in Parliament to safeguard the NG-CDF because he was the CDF chairperson. When you look around, you see buildings like this constructed with CDF funds. Prudent use of public resources can be explained through NG-CDF,” said Wetangula.

“We want to make Ranje an educational hub because we already have ECDE facilities. This shows the impact of CDF because when a child moves from ECDE, they proceed to primary, then secondary, then university. We also want to set up a church here so that we can provide holistic education for our people," Kanduyi MP John Makali added. 

During the devolution conference, Raila sustained his clarion call for the NG-CDF to be handed over to the counties. 

"In the interest of efficiency and better service delivery, all monies currently managed by the NG-CDF and NGAAF should be surrendered to counties. Everything Kenyans have done to reestablish good governance has made the CDF system obsolete; it is serving no role in the new constitutional architecture," he said.