Constituency Development Fund 2

Continued from last week

Investment menu

Under the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), priority will be given to short term and immediate intervention micro projects or programmes whose benefits accrue to communities or groups of individuals. Such projects will broadly include routine maintenance works, rehabilitation or new investment projects covering all sectors as identified by the communities and the member of Parliament. Where preferred projects are new, efforts will be made to ensure that the selected projects are in line with the development plan of the council.

All projects proposed for implementation under the CDF will be submitted by the MP to the district commissioner or chief executive of the council for technical appraisal (some projects such as clinics, schools, etc, must adhere to sectoral standards before they are implemented).

MPs will coordinate with other parliamentarians on inter constituency projects such as construction or maintenance of bridges that connect two  constituencies.

Funding and reporting

Funds flow to councils will be on the basis of CDF cash flow requirements submitted by the council (after consultations with MPs in that council) to the Ministry of Finance through the National Local Government Finance Committee.

Once funding is received, the DC or chief executive of the council must advise MPs accordingly. The council will compile CDF financial and physical progress reports on a monthly basis.

The reports will be shared with MPs and will be posted on the council’s public notice boards for public consumption.

In line with the provisions of the Public Finance Management Act (2003), the DC or chief executive of the council is ultimately accountable and responsible for management of funds under the CDF.

All non-project related expenditures and all expenditures having an attribute of accruing personal benefit will not be drawn against the CDF.

Procurement

The procurement of goods and services under the CDF will be governed by the provisions of the Public Procurement Act (PPA), 2003. The supply of goods and services by a person directly or indirectly involved in the initiation of projects for implementation under the CDF constitutes a conflict of interest under the provisions of the PPA 2003.

The supply of goods and services under the CDF by a person involved in the initiation, identification, approval and implementation of projects is therefore not allowed.

Project implementation, monitoring and evaluation

For each project, there will be a project implementation committee (PIC) consisting of at least five people. The PIC will be responsible for coordinating the execution of the project in liaison with the MP.

The MP will be responsible for the day to day monitoring of CDF financed projects. In collaboration with the PIC, the DC or chief executive of the council will monitor and evaluate project implementation at regular intervals within the normal council projects monitoring programme.