Homa Bay Town MP Peter Kaluma has made an appeal to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to arrest corrupt county governors, accusing them of looting public funds meant for development.

In a fiery statement on his X account on Wednesday, April 16, 2025, Kaluma expressed frustration over rampant corruption in the counties, stating that governors were overburdening citizens with taxes while stealing public money.

“They tax poor people to the bone and loot all the tax revenues forwarding nothing much to the National Treasury! They receive trillions from the National Treasury and cry very loud whenever there is delay only to steal all!” Kaluma wrote.

He further accused governors of now targeting the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) and the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA) allocations in a bid to increase their access to public funds.

“They now want NG-CDF and KeRRA to top up their loot! Devolution is a noble idea targeting equity in development; but, Governors are thieves! Devolution will work after @EACCKenya arrests 90% of the governors – spare none, arrest and prosecute the thieves!” he added.

Kaluma’s remarks come amid an ongoing national debate over the future of the NG-CDF, a fund that has for years helped finance local development projects, especially in education. The fund has, however, faced criticism from some political leaders who argue that it is unconstitutional and misused.

Kaluma vs Muturi

Kaluma defended the fund, warning politicians who oppose it that they risk losing support from the majority of Kenyans who have benefited from it.

“You fight NG-CDF, you lose the support of 90% of Kenya’s population whose schools have been built through the fund and whose education has been supported by this fund that takes only 2% of the national government share of revenue directly to the people,” he said.

He emphasized that NG-CDF has played a central role in building schools and providing bursaries for students, saying its impact is unmatched compared to other government funds.

Kaluma also responded to critics who accuse MPs of misusing NG-CDF, saying lawmakers no longer control how the funds are distributed. He was particularly responding to former Public Service Cabinet Secretary Justin Muturi, who had earlier called for the abolition of the fund.

“As you fight NG-CDF imagining you’re fighting MPs who no longer control it, remember that there are real people it has made; that 99% of the education infrastructure in Kenya is existent because of it; that, unlike other funds whose bulk is wasted, 94% of NG-CDF goes directly to schools to implement priorly quantified and approved projects,” Kaluma stated.

He argued that scrapping the fund would not lead to better distribution of resources but would instead centralize money in government ministries, where it could be misused or allocated unfairly.

“NG-CDF is the only fund Kenyans will vote to support – the reason all efforts to change the Constitution seek to ride on it,” he added.

Justin Muturi, who was recently dismissed from President William Ruto’s Cabinet, had earlier stirred controversy after declaring NG-CDF illegal. Muturi, a former National Assembly Speaker, described the fund as a corrupt tool for enriching MPs and their associates.

“NG-CDF is a corrupt, illegal and unconstitutional slush fund to unjustly enrich the MPs, their families and cronies and should, therefore, be scrapped,” Muturi said on Tuesday, April 15, 2025.

NG-CDF to counties

The debate has also attracted comments from opposition leader Raila Odinga, who suggested that NG-CDF should be handed over to the counties. He argued that MPs should focus on their constitutional roles; legislation, representation, and oversight, and not implementation of projects.

“I have also told the MPs to give CDF funds back to counties and not to MPs. MPs have no business concerning roads. The role of the members of parliaments is clearly stated: legislation, representation and oversight. How do you oversight when you yourself are actually implementing?” Raila asked.

The fund has not been without controversy, as Auditor General Nancy Gathungu recently flagged several constituencies for mismanagement of NG-CDF resources.