This week, we will discuss the Constituency Development Fund (CDF). Our discussion will be based on CDF’s management guidelines, in their current state, as developed by government in 2006.
Government, through the National Local Government Finance Committee (NLGFC), has initiated a review of CDF management guidelines.
The discussion, therefore, provides a further opportunity for input that will feed into the review of the CDF management guidelines that has just been initiated.
Establishment
Government established CDF with a view of spreading rural development evenly throughout the country.
The CDF is there to respond to immediate, short-term community development needs.
It provides members of Parliament and their constituents an opportunity to choose and implement projects that maximise their welfare in line with their needs and preferences.
Parliament approved the first budgetary provision for the CDF in the 2006/2007 fiscal year with an initial allocation of K2 million per constituency. The allocation increased to K7 million per constituency in the 2012/2013.
Being part of voted expenditure in the national budget, management of the CDF is governed by the Public Finance Management Regulatory Framework comprising mainly the Public Finance Management Act (2003), the Public Procurement Act (2003) and the Public Audit Act (2003).
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