Treasury under pressure over CDF allocation

By Peter Opiyo

Parliament has once again put the Treasury under pressure to give the full allocation for the Constituency Development Fund kitty.

In its report to the House, the Parliamentary Budget Committee wants the shortfall of Sh562 million be allocated to the kitty to initiate development projects in the 210 constituencies.

Chairman of Parliament’s CDF Committee Ekwee Ethuro said the Government has been violating the law that requires that at least 2.5 per cent of the ordinary revenue goes to the kitty.

The Sh562 million he said will go towards sealing the shortfall occasioned by Treasury’s failure to observe the CDF Act. “This is what the law says, and we are not seeking any additional funding,” said Ethuro.

In its recommendation to the Treasury, the committee recommended: “An additional allocation of Sh562.8 million for CDF being the balance to meet the legal threshold of 2.5 per cent of ordinary revenue be allocated.”

Kitty

About Sh21 billion has been allocated to the kitty for 2012/2013.

A member of the CDF Committee, Abdi Nuh said the Treasury is taking advantage on the confusion whether CDF should be a devolved fund to flout the law.

In the current financial year Sh14.3 billion was allocated to CDF instead of Sh15.2 billion.

In the financial year 2009/2010, the kitty was allocated Sh12 billion instead of Sh13 billion while in 2008/2009, it was allocated Sh10.1 billion instead of Sh11.6 billion.

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