Members of the National Assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2025, which seeks to anchor three critical funds in the Constitution.
The Bill, which has sparked legal debate and controversy, proposes to entrench the National Government Constituencies Fund (NG-CDF), the Senate Oversight Fund (SOF), and the National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF) into the supreme law.
During the Second Reading, 304 MPs voted in favour of the Bill, with none opposing. At the Third Reading, 298 MPs supported the amendment, registering a unanimous vote.
Meanwhile, the principal aim of the constitutional amendment is to provide legal certainty and constitutional protection to the three funds. The NG-CF is designed to enhance equitable access to national government services, particularly in education and infrastructure at the grassroots level.
The SOF will strengthen the Senate’s oversight role over county governments, while NGAAF will enhance support for vulnerable groups, including women, youth, and persons living with disabilities.
The Bill will now proceed to the Senate for consideration, and then be forwarded to the president for his assent or dissent.
On May 2, the Katiba Institute and several civil society organisations took the National Assembly to court over its plan to amend the Constitution by including the three funds.
In its petition, Katiba Institute had argued that the entire Bill is constitutionally superfluous, and the funds it seeks to create are inconsistent with the letter and spirit of the Constitution.
“The Bill and any associated processes, including the scheduled public participation, are unnecessary and violate the Constitutional requirement for prudence and responsibility in public spending,” Katiba argued.
Also, Katiba argued that provisions of the Bill would need to be approved in a referendum. “Therefore, Parliament should be compelled to enact a referendum law, which it has failed to do for the past 14 years, before embarking on any constitutional amendment process,” they posited.
In their position, the lobby group contended that the amendments were unnecessary because efforts by Otiende and Chepkonga in sponsoring the Bill could still be done lawfully under the Constitution as it is.
They averred that the proposed NGAAF is currently being implemented through the Public Finance Management Act (National Government Affirmative Action Fund) Regulations, 2016. Article 206(1)(a) of the Constitution allows for the creation of special-purpose Funds.
Meanwhile, the matter is still pending in court, awaiting hearing and determination. On June 5, Justice Lawrence Mugambi of the High Court ruled that the National Assembly may debate, transmit the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2025 to the Senate, but cannot proceed beyond that stage, basically for assent.
