MPs threaten to impeach Treasury CS Njuguna Ndung'u over CDF billions
National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung'u.
Members of Parliament have threatened to impeach National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u over persistent delays in disbursing National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) billions.
The MPs drawn from both the ruling Kenya Kwanza Alliance and opposition outfit Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party said learners from poor families who depend on bursaries to pay fees risk being turned away from schools.
The lawmakers said the Treasury is yet to disburse even a single cent of NG-CDF money despite a promise made by President William Ruto to have the funds before schools reopen. National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula had also assured the MPs that the money would be released by the end of December.
Addressing a press conference at Parliament Buildings on Tuesday, the over 20 MPs issued a seven-day ultimatum to Prof Ndung’u to pay up or face a censure motion in the House.
The MPs also threatened to engineer the sacking of NG-CDF Chief Executive Officer Yusuf Mbuno over the impasse.
“Not a single cent has been disbursed [from the NG-CDF] with the consequence that pupils and students are stranded all over the country. We should have received at least 75 per cent of the money by now, which is around Sh43 billion, but, to date, we haven’t received anything despite some utterances that you may have heard elsewhere,” said Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo (ODM) while reading from a joint press statement.
The MPs claimed the Treasury had written a memo to NG-CDF account managers informing them that money would not be released until they prepared afresh the proposals they had submitted due to an amendment to the CDF Act.
They questioned why the amendments were being introduced in the third quarter of the 2023/2024 financial year despite the fact that they only affected less than six per cent of NG-CDF funds.
“These amendments should have been considered in the 2024/25 financial year. As a bipartisan team comprising members from both sides, we demand the entire allocation of NG-CDF must be released within seven 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,” said the Rarieda MP.
Kabuchai MP Majibo Kalasinga (Ford Kenya) claimed Treasury had reallocated money meant for NG-CDF to other ministries. Mr Kalasinga said parents and learners have been crowding their NG-CDF offices for bursaries. He accused the Treasury of lying to Parliament that the money would hit constituency accounts by December last year.
“Schools have no classrooms and they are depending 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 since the beginning of this financial year up to date,” said Mr Kalasinga.
The NG-CDF money is disbursed quarterly, meaning that the constituencies should, by now, have received 75 percent of their annual allocations.
Some MPs said they had issued bursary forms but had no money to give to the needy students.
The lawmakers last month staged a walkout from the House to protest the delay in releasing over Sh53.3 billion NG-CDF cash.
The law sets aside 2.5 per cent of the total revenue raised nationally to be shared among the 290 constituencies.
According to the new Constituency Development Act, the money allocated for bursaries was increased from 35 percent to 40 percent. It means that, out of the Sh53.3 billion, some Sh21.2 billion would go towards bursaries.
