MPs have launched an attempt to cement control of billions of shillings through entities they use for political mileage, fronting a new Bill to anchor three funds in the Constitution.
In a new proposal, the MPs want the National Government Constituencies Fund (NGCF), the National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF) and the Senate Oversight Fund (SOF) anchored in the Constitution.
This follows a High Court decision last September declaring the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) unconstitutional and ruling that allocations to the fund be stopped by June 30, 2026.
The proposal is contained in the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill 2025, which was tabled in Parliament on March 6, pushed by Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo and Ainabkoi MP Samuel Chepkong’a.
“The principal object of this bill is to amend the constitution to entrench NGAAF, SOF and NGCF in the Constitution,” the Bill states.
This would offer the three entities a legal basis for operation as they handle tens of billions of shillings annually after the NG-CDF was declared unconstitutional.
“The establishment of NGCF in the Constitution will ensure reasonable access to exclusive national government functions in all constituencies as envisaged in Article 6(3) of the Constitution and ensure the participation of the people in the identification and implementation of priority national government programmes,” the Bill says.
It adds that the fund will consist of monies appropriated from the government’s share of revenues as divided by the annual Division of Revenue Act.
MPs are expected to enact a law directing how monies allocated to the NGCF are used and how the fund will operate after its entrenchment in the Constitution.
The High Court, last September, declared the NG-CDF unconstitutional. The fund has a Sh54.7 billion budget in the current fiscal year, ending June 2025.
“NG-CDF and all its projects, programmes and activities shall cease to operate on the stroke of midnight on June 30, 2026,” the High Court ruled.
MPs have been using the NG-CDF for political mileage, taking credit for the fund’s activities in the constituencies, mainly disbursing student bursaries.
And now senators also want control over a similar fund with the establishment of SOF, which will see the 67 elected ones have control over billions allocated to the fund.
The Bill argues that the establishment of the SOF is to ensure that the Senate is “adequately resourced and empowered to perform its oversight functions.”
Monies to the fund will be appropriated from the government’s share of revenue as divided by the annual Division of Revenue Act, just as the NGCF.
“The establishment of SOF in the constitution will ensure that the Senate is adequately empowered and resourced to perform its oversight functions,” the Bill says.
Ngaaf, which has been in operation under the leadership of women representatives, is also proposed to be established under the constitution, “for the purpose of enhancing the measures of the national government's affirmative action.
Several reports of the Auditor-General have previously raised queries on the usage of millions of shillings handled by the NG-CDF and Ngaaf, including the issuance of bursaries to undeserving students and cases where monies reported as having been used for different activities could not be traced.
