First Lady Rachel Ruto on Saturday, called on the National Government under President William Ruto to increase the funds allocated to the National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF).
Speaking in Kajiado County, the First Lady noted that an increased amount would magnify the economic impact of the fund.
Unlike the National Government-Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF), NGAAF is a semi-autonomous government agency (SAGA) under the Ministry of Gender.
The funds are disbursed to County Woman Representatives who then use the kitty to initiate development projects.
Rachel Ruto called for increased funding while attending a function at Maasai Technical Training Institute (MTTI) where she presided over the distribution of income-generating tools and equipment worth over Ksh19 million.
Gender Cabinet Secretary Aisha Jumwa who was attending the event remarked that increasing the amount had hit legal and constitutional hurdles.
To circumnavigate that, CS Jumwa urged parliamentarians to entrench budgetary allocations to the NGAAF as a percentage of the national budget.
Jumwa further remarked on the importance of the funds explaining that it was critical to grassroots development, especially for women, youth, and people with disabilities who are sometimes left out of commercial funding instruments.
Other political leaders present during the event further asked for the increment of other funds which are controlled by the National Government.
Kajiado Woman Representative Leah Sankare in particular asked for the Tourism Fund to be used to connect the women groups to local and export markets.
For the 2022/2023 Financial Year, NGAAF, the fund was allocated a budget of Ksh2.13 billion to be shared amongst 47 counties.
In the 2023/2024 Financial Year, the amount was increased to Ksh3 billion with Treasury CS Njuguna Ndung’u remarking it was meant to further the empowerment of women.
