National

NG-CDF to receive Sh5 billion this week, with monthly disbursements to follow

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Wetang'ula added that starting in December, Sh7 billion will be released each month until June next year.

The government has committed to releasing Sh5 billion for the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) by Thursday this week, with an additional Sh7 billion to be disbursed monthly from December through June 2025.

National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang'ula announced the development, stating that Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi had confirmed the funds would be made available before MPs go on their long recess.

Wetang'ula added that starting in December, Sh7 billion will be released each month until June next year.

"By Thursday, December 5, 2024, he will disburse Sh5 billion and thereafter he will disburse Sh7 billion every month until we complete June next year. From January to June 2025, it will be a disbursement of Sh7 billion every month,” he said.

He also confirmed that all arrears for the 2023/2024 financial year had been cleared, urging MPs to continue their work on behalf of their constituents during the recess.

"All the arrears for the financial year 2023/2024 have been cleared, when you go for recess, go and work for the people,” he said.

National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah called on MPs to expedite the submission of NG-CDF project proposals to the fund board to ensure quick approval and subsequent disbursement of funds for development projects.

"The CS National Treasury has assured he will disburse the Sh7 billion at the end of December to ensure we have adequate resources for the disbursement of bursaries at the beginning of January when the children are going back to school. Even as we go for long recess, those who are yet to submit proposals please push your boards to do so,” Ichung’wah said.

The NG-CDF allocation will serve as a matching fund for the construction of Junior Secondary School (JSS) classrooms, with Sh7.8 billion allocated for the construction of 5,000 classrooms, while the Ministry of Education will contribute Sh11 billion for the construction of 11,000 classrooms.

The Ministry has also stated that all JSS classrooms will be completed by January 2025 and that there will be no overlap in the construction efforts, as NG-CDF will not build classrooms in schools where the Ministry of Education has already done so.

This comes after a September ruling by a three-judge bench, which declared the NG-CDF fund unconstitutional, citing violations of the separation of powers principle and the failure of the National Assembly to consult the Senate.

Justices Kanyi Kimondo, Mugure Thande, and Roselyne Aburili, sitting at Nairobi’s Milimani Law Courts, ordered that the fund, along with all its projects, will cease to operate by June 30, 2026.

However, the judges indicated that it would not be in the nation's best interest to abruptly close the fund before that date.

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