Kisumu County Senator Tom Ojienda has explained why the Members of Parliament (MPs) should not be in charge of the National Government-Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF).

The first-term senator says the MPs should be solely doing what they were elected to do as per the provisions in the constitution.

While discussing the legal structures that supported CDF, the law professor explained why the court was right to declare the kitty unconstitutional.

“CDF has a structural and constitutional problem. The infrastructure of CDF must find itself within the framework or the architecture of the constitution.

“And since the structure flies in the face of Articles 174 and 175, which talk about devolution and create these two levels of government; Articles 201 and 203 of the Constitution, which talk about how funds are appropriated and allocated; and Articles 216 and 218, which talk about appropriation through parliament, the CDF law is unconstitutional.

“And in spite of the amendment MPs purported to make in 2022 and 2023, it remains and is unconstitutional. That is why the three-judge bench in petition No. No.128 of 2016 not only struck it down but also gave some opportunity to MPs to make it constitutional,” Ojienda argued during a morning talk show with a local TV station on April 17, 2025.

Kitty not needed

He said if the MPs lose the NG-CDF, which by a ruling of the court should cease in 2026, the MPs positions will no longer be attractive. Ojienda added that the kitty is no longer needed because, already, there are county governments that are expected to undertake roles that CDF was intended to.

“Remember, under Articles 1 and 5, the role of MPs is legislation, oversight, and representation, and those are the roles that MPs should keep. Even though the MPs tried to distance themselves by creating committees to oversee CDF, they were still in control.

“When MPs lose control of CDF, the election will be unattractive, and I think this is the period I am looking forward to: that we need to see a period when MPs have no CDF. If you want to help your people, do it through representing them well in parliament, do it through oversight, and do it through proper legislation.

“But not through using a kitty to go to the villages and harass people. It (NG-CDF) was a noble idea to devolve money; now we have the devolved units created by the constitution. Why do we need to replicate that through CDF again?” the senator asked.

The existence of NG-CDF has become a topical issue in the country, with some calling for its dissolution while others oppose such a move.