Cash crunch paralyses operations of NG-CDF committees, supervision
By Kepher Otieno, January 10, 2024The National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) management committees have not been paid their allowances for seven months, the Business Hub has learnt.
The staff are also complaining of delayed salaries this financial year, forcing them into deep debts as they wait for the payments to be made as promised by the State authorities.
Some of members of the committees now want the government to fast-track the payments to motivate them at work, so that they don’t use their own funds in the meetings.
Sources close to the NG-CDF Committees confided to Business Hub that some NG-CDF board’s committees risk absconding duties due to delayed payments in coming months.
In an interview with the Business Hub, Awendo Constituency NG-CDF chairman Jared Osawa disclosed that their allowances were also being heavily taxed.
Currently, a chairman of the NG-CDF is entitled to Sh7,000 per sitting and other committee members entitled to Sh5,000. So, in a month, they can only sit twice as capped.
This means, the chairman can only pocket up to 14,000 in a month and the committee members Sh10,000. Under the new Finance Act, 2023, the allowances are now taxed.
“We pay the Housing levy tax mandatorily. So, a chair earns Sh5,500 and the committee members now take home Sh3,500. Then there are other statutory deductions NSSF and NHIF,’’ Osawa explained.
Although he was cagey to disclose the percentage of the statutory deductions levied on them, he wondered why non-permanent staff should be taxed that much.
“By the end of the day, when the allowances are paid in wholesome, the money is very little and then again it takes months before it is released making the duties in the Board very hectic,” said Osawa.
NG-CDF primary purpose is to promote socio-economic development in the different constituencies in Kenya by supporting grass-root or ward development projects.
However, the recent turn of events has seen it engrossed in controversy, with the courts at some point terming it illegal, with MPs fighting to ensure it is retained and fully funded.
The Fund, formerly CDF, was established in 2003 through an Act of Parliament, the CDF Act 2003. Though, the Act of Parliament was later reviewed by the CDF Act of 2007 and repealed by the CDF Act of 2013 and later succeeded by the current NG-CDF Act of 2016.
The Act required the fund to be domiciled within the National Economic and Policy planning ministry.
It is therefore managed under the National Treasury and Planning, and by the NG-CDF Board at the National level chaired by former Kisumu West MP Olago Aluoch.The NG-CDF committees are the custodians of the fund at the constituency level, and the Project Management Committees (PMC) at the community level to ensure prudent management.
But now its emerging that some of the NG-CDF services are technically grounded due to the delayed disbursement of cash to run the kitty effectively to help the people as envisioned.
In most constituencies, there is no money for operations and yet this is the money used to fuel the vehicles used by the PMC and Committees to supervise the ongoing NG-CDF projects. It means technically, supervision is grounded.