National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula on Friday announced that Parliament would appeal the High Court decision that declared the National Government-Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) unconstitutional.
In a statement, Wetangula stated that the National Assembly would challenge all the High Court's findings regarding the constitutionality of the Act.
He noted that the National Assembly's legal team had already requested a copy of the judgement and court proceedings to challenge the decision at the Appellate Court.
He further revealed that parliament would also apply for the stay of the declaration, pending the hearing and determination of the case.
"The National Assembly intends to challenge the verdict on all the grounds cited by the Petitioners and allowed by the Court," Wetangula stated.
In their Judgement, Justices Kanyi Kimondo, Roselyn Aburili and Mugure Thande observed that NG-CDF undermined the spirit of devolution and that it led to a wastage of public resources.
“For all the above reasons and conclusions, we now make the following declarations, that the National Government Constituency Development Fund Act of 2015 as amended in 2022, and 2023 is hereby declared unconstitutional,” stated the court.
The three-judge bench further declared that NG-CDF also created overlaps in government activities and that it was constituted without the Senate's input.
In their ruling, the judges also noted that the piece of legislation also creates a parallel unit of development separate from the counties.
Following the ruling, the court gave the current NGCDF a gross period of one year and eight months lapsing at midnight on June 26, 2026, when the Fund will cease to exist.
"That NG-CDF and all its projects, programs and activities shall cease to operate at the stroke of midnight on 30th June 2026," the court declared.
The Petition was filed in 2016 by Katiba Institute which challenged the legality of the NG-CDF Act 2015, claiming it violated the principles of Public Finance and contravened the Doctrine of Separation of Powers.
