Gakuya raises alarm over school CDF cluster selection amid education funding concerns
By Aloys Michael, January 13, 2026Embakasi North Member of Parliament (MP) James Gakuya has raised concerns over the selection of schools funded under the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), questioning the logic behind repeated allocations to certain institutions while others are left behind.
Speaking during a recent interview, Gakuya noted the challenges in the current system, emphasising the need for a fairer approach that takes into account the actual development requirements of each institution, rather than relying on past allocations.
“Let us agree on one thing: matters to do with education, one, it is not handled in the right way, because sometimes you realise that the ministry has a budget for building schools. It is not the business of CDF entirely that every single penny is being budgeted for the CDF to build schools. The ministry has a big chunk of development projects. But the problem here is that there are big sub-schools, even in the city, buildings, that are totally left without happening,” he said.
He expressed frustration at the recurring pattern where some schools continue to receive funding year after year while others receive none.
“How can one school benefit one year, second year, third year and fourth is getting zero from the ministry? That one I cannot understand,” the MP remarked.
CDF intended purpose
Gakuya stressed that MPs’ CDF allocations are specifically intended for education and school infrastructure.
“Members of parliament, the monies that actually flow to the CDF are basically money to deal with schools. Anything else is secondary. And therefore, with a budget of one 50 million per year, I don’t think that there is anybody in this country who could say that he cannot have enough resources to build a new school,” the legislator stated.
Gakuya’s remarks come amid broader concerns over education spending in Kenya’s North Eastern region. Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua recently urged leaders to take personal initiative in developing their schools, highlighting the importance of local action alongside national funding.
Gachagua on North Eastern schools
Gachagua scoffed at Northern Kenya leaders, accusing them of squandering vast devolved resources without building lasting public institutions.
At a Nyeri press briefing on Friday, January 9, 2026, Gachagua dismissed calls for affirmative action, saying a decade of devolution weakens claims that some counties still deserve preferential treatment in elite school admissions.
“Devolution has been in place since 2013, and leaders from those regions have not developed institutions at the same pace, yet they want their children to benefit from facilities established by other counties,” he said.
“They have the opportunity to develop institutions of the highest standards possible in Kenya, not just for the children of those areas, but for the children of Kenya,” he said, adding that comparable counties in Western, Rift Valley and Mt Kenya regions had used smaller amounts to establish “beautiful institutions.”
North Eastern leaders hit back at Gachagua
Although his utterances drew sharp criticism from Northern Kenya leaders, including MPs led by Farah Maalim and several governors, Gachagua noted that during his tenure as deputy president, he observed limited development in Northern Kenya despite sustained transfers of public funds such as the National Government-Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF).
“I travelled as deputy president to those areas, and I did not see new institutions corresponding to the level of funding received,” he claimed.
“I was surprised that some leaders from Northern Kenya did not reside or work there. Anytime I visited some counties, they requested space on my aircraft. I would travel with them both ways.”
He said the country needed a structured debate on whether affirmative action and zoning for national school placement should continue.
“Devolution was meant to bring equity. Equitable allocation of CDF funds was intended to bring equity. Thirteen years later, does any county still require affirmative action? We need to discuss this,” he said.
“For how long are we going to have affirmative action?”