Kibra voted best in CDF management

Kibra has been voted the best constituency in the management and use of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF).

Kabondo Kasipul emerged second while Kabuchai came third in an inaugural nationwide evaluation exercise that was carried out by the fund's board together with evaluators from the Ministry of Devolution.

Constituency Development Fund CEO Yusuf Mbuno (left) and Chairman Elias Mbau address the Press at the CDF offices yesterday. (PHOTO: BEVERLYNE MUSILI/ STANDARD)

According to the fund's board chairman Elias Mbau and acting Chief Executive officer Yusuf Mbuno, the 290 constituencies in the country were evaluated based on the implementation of the performance contract targets for 2014/2015 financial year.

Apart from the three constituencies which emerged top in Nairobi, Nyanza and Western region respectively, Garissa Township led in North Eastern, Rongai in South Rift and Kapseret in North Rift.

Rabai Constituency was ranked the best from Coast while Githunguri and Kitui Central emerged top in Eastern and Central Kenya regions, respectively.

Kibra MP Ken Okoth said he is delighted by the recognition of his constituency as the best in the country. He linked the good performance to team work and the strategic decisions made by those involved in handling the fund.

"As an ex-officio member and CDF patron, we sat down with committee members, the public and local leaderships and came up with a strategic plan after consultation. The contractors who work on projects in Kibra have to adhere to the deadlines set for completions of their projects. We are happy that the efforts are bearing fruits," he said, adding his constituency has prioritised funding education related projects.

 National Assembly Majority leader, also the Garissa MP Aden Duale attributed the good results of his constituency on the people managing the funds.

"The Garissa Township CDF committee is made up of people with integrity. The constituents themselves oversight the projects financed by the fund in my region," said Duale.

The MP however challenged the board to ensure there is no wastage of CDF funds by being strict in approval of the projects, revealing there is a lot of disparities in the financed projects in each of the regions.

"In my constituency for instance, two classrooms approved by the board cost Sh1.2 million while the same number of classrooms cost Sh2.5 million in Coast region. There is no uniformity. The board should be strict in approving projects to curb wastage and loss of funds," he said.

Speaking yesterday at a press briefing at the board's headquarters in Nairobi, Mbau explained that the ranking was based on service delivery of the respective CDF committees in each of the regions and how the disbursed money was accounted for.

 "We evaluated the constituencies on a scale of 1-5 as per the standards of performance contracts used by the Government. Scores ranging from 1.00 to 2.00 were evaluated as excellent, 2.40- 3.00 very good, 3.60-4.00 fair and 4.00-5.00 poor," said Mbau, adding:

"Operational indicators used included the measure of timely disbursement of funds to project management committees, capacity building activities for members of the CDF committees and monitoring and evaluation of CDF-financed projects."

Mr Mbuno pointed out that they also looked at dynamic indicators and evaluated activities such as gender mainstreaming, environmental management, prevention of HIV infections and prevention of drugs and alcohol abuse.