National Assembly Majority Party Whip Silvanus Osoro was on Tuesday heckled and blocked from accessing Parliament at a time the house was scheduled to discuss the allocation of the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NGCDF).
Osoro had just arrived at the chambers when MPs stopped him; ostensibly to prevent him from attempting to block the conversation from taking its natural course.
Parliament had come to a standstill as MPs from both Azimio and Kenya Kwanza joined forces to protest what they described as delayed disbursement of CDF funds from the national government.
During the session, National Assembly leader Kimani Ichung'wah was also heckled after he attempted to prevail on MPs to wait for Thursday when Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndungu will be back from COP 28 to address the matter.
However, the MPs, including those from Kenya Kwanza did not like the suggestion. They started heckling Ichung'wah before storming out of Parliament, where they started out airing their discontentment.
“The government is always supporting their executive programs to the detriment of CDF. So, what we are saying is that we have suspended all sittings, all government business until CDF is extended to our schools. They must provide money now and not later, ” Nyando MP Jared Okello could be heard saying in a viral video.
Okello stated that as it stands, most children in his constituency who rely on bursaries to get an education will be forced to stay at home over the bursaries issue.
The push and pull regarding the CDF comes after the Supreme Court in August 2022 declared the fund unconstitutional.
While issuing its ruling, the Supreme Court ruled that the existence of the fund undermines the separation of powers doctrine.
“A fund directed at service delivery mandate can only be constitutionally complaint if structured in a manner that does not entangle members of Legislative bodies and Legislative bodies in the discharge of the service delivery mandate however symbolic,” the Supreme Court ruled.
The CDF which was enacted in 2013 after being proposed during the Kibaki regime was ideated to bring development closer to the people.
At the time, development at the grassroots was constrained since Kenya only had a Central government.
Since then, however, the country has since enjoyed more than a decade of devolution leading to questions whether the CDF is necessary.
