National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) has been lauded for supporting government’s policy on 100 percent pupils’ transition to secondary schools.
Chairman of the NG-CDF Board Mr. Robert Masese said the kitty has helped many secondary schools to put up additional infrastructures to cater for ever increasing number of students.
Speaking when he commissioned construction of four classrooms at Wahundura Secondary school in Mathioya on Tuesday, Masese said NG-CDF has always assisted in the renovation of dilapidated classrooms and even buildings new facilities.
He noted that with availability of enough infrastructure courtesy of NG-CDF, the government has been able to achieve almost 100 percent transition.
“Almost 80 percent of the funding given to constituencies goes to support education and as a board we are following up to ensure prudent management of the same in order to improve education standards countrywide,” added Masese.
The chairman observed that many of the projects are identified by local communities and then funded through the kitty after a consensus is reached.
Masese said they will continue to train and sensitize NG-CDF committee members at the constituency level on the importance of giving priority to education needs, noting that some schools are experiencing congestion for lack of enough learning space among other key infrastructure.
Through corporate social responsibility, the chairman said they are doing sample school projects in selected constituencies stating that in Mathioya, they are building four classrooms and ablution block for Wahundura Secondary school to the tune of Sh7.5 million.
NG-CDF Chief Executive Officer Yusuf Mbuno downplayed allegations on misappropriation of funds channeled to constituencies saying the board makes regular follow ups to ensure the money given out is used prudently.
“We have a team which monitors usage of the funds to ensure any money going to the constituencies is used for the intended projects,” said Mbuno.
The CEO said that they have instructed constituency committees to first complete the already started projects before embarking on new ones, in line with the recent presidential directive.
Speaking during the same occasion, Mathioya MP Peter Kimari said the existing formula on sharing of NG-CDF should be changed to consider population index of every constituency.
He argued that some constituencies with large population and many learning institutions are given the same amount of money with those with small population.
“The kitty plays a very crucial role in uplifting livelihoods of many people at the grassroots and it should be boosted as the amount we are currently getting is not even adequate,” added Kimari
By Bernard Munyao
